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JOHN CHAPTER 8
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand in
accordance with the framework in which it was written: a framework which
is defined by the normative rules of language, context and logic. Rules
which do not impose undue, unintended meanings to the text
,
and which largely limit the observer to the content offered by the Gospel
of John. In order for any passage from elsewhere to be considered, it must
have a relationship with the context at hand, such as a Scriptural
quotation or a specific cross reference in the passage at hand by the
author. This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere;
and more importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and
objective comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
****** EXCERPTS FROM JN CHAPTER 7
(Jn 7:45 NKJV) "Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, 'Why have you not brought Him?' (Jn 7:46 NKJV) The officers answered, 'No man ever spoke like this Man! (Jn 7:47 NKJV) Then the Pharisees answered them, 'Are you also deceived? (Jn 7:48 NKJV) Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? (Jn 7:49 NKJV) But this crowd, that does not know the law, is accursed. (Jn 7:47 NKJV) Then the Pharisees answered, them, 'Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? (Jn 7:48 NKJV) Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? (Jn 7:49 NKJV) But this crowd, that does not know the law, is accursed. (Jn 7:50 NKJV) Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them [cf. Jn 3:1-18]) said to them, (Jn 7:51 NKJV) 'Does our Law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?' (Jn 7:52 NKJV) They answered and said to Him, 'Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.' (Jn 7:53 NKJV) And everone went to his own house." =
The Temple
officers, who were sent by the Jewish rulers to seize Jesus, came back
without Him. When the rulers indignantly asked the officers about their
failure to follow orders, the officers answered, "No [in the emphatic
sense of never did any] man ever [speak] like this man!" In the
Greek, the word "anthrOpos" rendered "man" in the NKJV
is in the emphatic position at the end of the sentence, implying that
Jesus was viewed as more than an ordinary human being. The officers, being
Levites, received extensive schooling in the details of the Law. They
evidently found no fault in the content of what Jesus taught in the Temple
relative to violations of the Law. They were greatly impressed with His
expertise in it, and the truths that He spoke, (cf Jn 7:14-19).
Consequently they found no good reason to arrest Him. Note that this
information might have been received by author John through one of the
Pharisees who were present, such as Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, (cf.
Jn 3:1; 7:50). The Pharisees answered the officers they sent to seize
Jesus sarcastically, unjustifiably and evidently with a motive to
intimidate those who would disagree with them, even those of their own
group, "Are you also deceived?" They implied without presenting
any evidence that anyone who believed in Jesus had been deceived. The
rulers attempted to justify their point by asking the rhetorical question
(which answer was intended to be no), "Have any of the rulers of the
Pharisees believed in Him?" The truth of the matter was that at least
two Pharisees, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, (Jn 19:38-42), did
believe in Jesus. The rulers declared that because the crowd did not know
the Law, they were eternally accursed. They implied that anyone who
opposed them was declared to be ignorant of the Law - their interpretation
of it. It is interesting to note that the fellow rulers who were Sadducees
were vehemently opposed to the Pharisees in many points relative to
Scripture and the Law, yet both groups joined to condemn Jesus to death
without a trial. The rulers, who were Levites, Sadducees and Pharisees,
thought that wealth and education were proof of their acceptance with God.
On the other hand, the Jewish rulers' pursuit of Jesus in order to kill
Him without due course of trying Him under the provisions of the Law, and
their condemnation of the crowds were egregious violations of the Law.
Even when Nicodemus, one of their number, referred to the provision for
any Jew to have his day in court - defending Jesus' right to have His day
in court: "Does our Law judge a man before it hears him and knows
what he is doing?" (cf. Dt 1:16-17; 17:8, 9; 19:15-19), they brushed
aside the Law and ridiculed him. Note that Nicodemus, one of the rulers,
was the one who came to Jesus by night, (cf. Jn 3:1-18)
.
Despite Nicodemus' voice of reason and logic which accurately pointed out the provision of justice under the Law, the other rulers counter attacked him with an irrational, emotional and personal attack: ''Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee." The Jewish rulers were motivated to protect their positions of power and wealth regardless of the truth and the cost. For it was known that the prophets Jonah of Gathhepher, Elijah of Thisbe, Hosea, Nahum, and most likely Elisha and Amos were from the Galilean area.
Although the
rulers were not justified in their decision to kill Jesus, they continued
to contradict the truth about Jesus, the Law and Scripture, especially
relative to the coming of the Messiah through His birth in Bethlehem, (cf.
Micah 5:2), (where Jesus was born in the line of David). They did not
acknowledge the fact that the Scriptures referred to a light coming to the
Gentiles in Galilee corresponding to the work of the Messiah, (cf. Isa
9:1-7 ).
The rulers, having been unable to get all of the ruling body behind them
to wholly agree with one another on the agenda to kill Jesus, pursued the
matter no further that day.
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM JN CHAPTER 7 ******
(Jn 8:1 NKJV) '''But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
(Jn 8:1 & 2 YLT) And at dawn He came again [into] the temple. And all the people were coming unto Him, and having sat down, He was teaching them;
(Jn 8:3 YLT) and the scribes and the Pharisees bring unto Him a woman having been taken in adultery, and having set her in the midst [of them],
(Jn 8:4 YLT) they say to Him, "Teacher, this woman was taken ["epautophOrO"] in the very act [of committing crime] - committing adultery,
(Jn 8:5 NKJV) Now Moses, in the Law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?"
(Jn 8:6 YLT) And this they said, trying Him - [in the sense of testing Him to find fault] that they might have [something] to accuse Him [with]. [But] Jesus, having stooped down, with [His] finger He was writing on the ground;
(Jn 8:7 YLT) and when they [were continuing] asking Him, having [raised up] Himself, He said unto them, "The sinless [one among] you - let him first cast the stone at her;"
(Jn 8:8 YLT) and again having stooped down, He was writing on the ground,
(Jn 8:9 YLT) and they having heard, and by the conscience being convicted, were going [out] one by one, having begun [with] the elders - unto the last [ones] and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst [of the Temple area]
(Jn 8:10 YLT) And Jesus having [lifted up] Himself, and having seen no one but the woman, said to her, "Woman, where are those - [your] accusers? Did no one pass sentence upon [you]?"
(Jn 8:11 NKJV) She said, "No one, LORD." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you;" go and sin no more," [in the sense of telling her to not to commit adultery any more].
(Jn 7:53 NKJV) '''And everone went to his own house. (Jn 8:1 NKJV) But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. (Jn 8:1 & 2 YLT) And at dawn He came again [into] the temple. And all the people were coming unto Him, and having sat down, He was teaching them; (Jn 8:3 YLT) and the scribes and the Pharisees bring unto Him a woman having been taken in adultery, and having set her in the midst [of them], (Jn 8:4 YLT) they say to Him, "Teacher, this woman was taken ["epautophOrO"] in the very act [of committing crime] - committing adultery, (Jn 8:5 NKJV) Now Moses, in the Law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" (Jn 8:6 YLT) And this they said, trying Him - [in the sense of testing Him to find fault] that they might have [something] to accuse Him [with]. [But] Jesus, having stooped down, with [His] finger He was writing on the ground; (Jn 8:7 YLT) and when they [were continuing] asking Him, having [raised up] Himself, He said unto them, "The sinless [one among] you - let him first cast the stone at her;" (Jn 8:8 YLT) and again having stooped down, He was writing on the ground, (Jn 8:9 YLT) and they having heard, and by the conscience being convicted, were going [out] one by one, having begun [with] the elders - unto the last [ones] and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst [of the Temple area]. (Jn 8:10 YLT) And Jesus having [lifted up] Himself, and having seen no one but the woman, said to her, "Woman, where are those - [your] accusers? Did no one pass sentence upon you?" [Greek: "katakrinen," lit., condemn] (Jn 8:11 NKJV) She said, "No one, LORD." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you;" [Greek, "katakrinO," - not in the sense that He was passing over her sin, but in the sense that He was not going to condemn her to death for her sin under the Law, not being an official judge of the Jewish courts; nor was the purpose of Jesus in His Humanity to condemn and punish temporal sin; but to make provision for forgiveness of sins unto eternal life, (Jn 3:17). On the other hand, Jesus told her, "Go and sin no more," in the sense of telling her to not to commit adultery any more. Jesus' statement indicated that He, the Son of God, knew that she had committed adultery. And she did not deny it at any time either. =
The last verse of chapter seven, Jn 7:53, rendered "Everyone went to his own house" in the NKJV as well as Jn 8:1-11, do not appear in the earliest manuscripts and most likely are not part of the original text. Jn 7:53-8:11 appears in 05D, 017K, 021M, 030U, 036, 28, 700, byz., Gries, Word. These verses do not appear in p66, p75, 01, 02A, 03B, 04C, 019L, 029T, 032W, 037, 038, 33, 656, lect. sa. Lach, Treg, Alf, Tisc, We/Ho, Weis, Sod, UBS.
[Expositor's, Vol. 9, 1981, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Frank E Gaebelein, Editor, p. 91]:
"The textual status of this passage [7:53-8:11] is uncertain. It is lacking in the major papyri MSS of the early third century (P66 and P75), in the great uncials that precede the sixth century (Aleph, B probably A and C T W), in some of the later uncials (N, X, Theta, Psi), and in a considerable number of the best cursive MSS (33 157 565 and others). The oldest Syriac and Egyptian versions omit it, as do also the Georgian, Gothic, and some of the MSS of Old Latin. It is included by some of the representatives of the 'Western' text (D G) and by a number of the later uncials and cursives (28 700 et al.). One MS (225) places it after John 7:36; a few, after 7:44; some uncials append it to the end of the Gospel; and one family of MSS, the Ferrar Group, place it after Luke 21:38. No early commentator contains it, nor is it quoted in any of the church fathers before Irenaeus, and then only in the Latin version, which was translated possibly as late as the fourth century. The multiplicity of small variants within this pericope indicate that it may have had a checkered literary history."
The words in Jn 7:53, "And everyone went to his own house," implies that the preceding account had ended with everyone going to his own house. But then Jn 8:1 - if it was to be part of the original text - follows with "But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives." The word rendered "But" in verse 1 implies continuity with the previous context at the end of chapter 7 but with a contrast: the members of the group of rulers each went to their own homes while Jesus evidently made His way to the Mount of Olives according to Jn 8:1, where He spent the night. But this scenario created by verse 1 does not fit with the preceding text at the end of chapter 7, because Jesus was not present at the meeting of the Sanhedrin to which the guards had reported and during which the rulers were discussing their attempt to arrest and murder Him.
Furthermore, if all of the scribes and Pharisees and every Jew that was listening to Jesus' teaching had already left the area in the Temple according to Jn 8:9-10 at the end of the passage in question; then Jn 8:12 - the beginning of the authenticated text - contradicts Jn 8:9-10 since it begins with "Again, therefore Jesus [spoke] to them (to the Pharisees, cf. v. 13)..." So Jn 8:12 implies a continuation of Jesus' conversation with the Pharisees; but Jn 8:11 if permitted to be part of the Bible indicates that everyone had left the Temple already. Hence Jn 7:53-8:11 do not fit into the context of John chapter 8. It neither belongs in this section, nor in Scripture as manuscript evidence has indicated.
On the other hand, the passage neither adds any new doctrine nor contradicts Scripture when properly interpreted:
(Jn 8:1 NKJV) '''But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. (Jn 8:1 & 2 YLT) And at dawn He came again [into] the temple. And all the people were coming unto Him, and having sat down, He was teaching them; (Jn 8:3 YLT) and the scribes and the Pharisees bring unto Him a woman having been taken in adultery, and having set her in the midst [of them], (Jn 8:4 YLT) they say to Him, "Teacher, this woman was taken ["epautophOrO"] in the very act [of committing crime] - committing adultery, (Jn 8:5 NKJV) Now Moses, in the Law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" (Jn 8:6 YLT) And this they said, trying Him - [in the sense of testing Him to find fault] that they might have [something] to accuse Him [with]. [But] Jesus, having stooped down, with [His] finger He was writing on the ground; (Jn 8:7 YLT) and when they [were continuing] asking Him, having [raised up] Himself, He said unto them, "The sinless [one among] you - let him first cast the stone at her;" (Jn 8:8 YLT) and again having stooped down, He was writing on the ground, (Jn 8:9 YLT) and they having heard, and by the conscience being convicted, were going [out] one by one, having begun [with] the elders - unto the last [ones] and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst [of the Temple area] (Jn 8:10 YLT) And Jesus having [lifted up] Himself, and having seen no one but the woman, said to her, "Woman, where are those - [your] accusers? Did no one pass sentence upon [you]?" (Jn 8:11 NKJV) She said, "No one, LORD." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more," [in the sense of telling her to not to commit adultery any more].'''' =
So, according to the end of chapter 7, the arresting officers came back to the Jewish rulers without Jesus, prompting an argument about His authenticity amongst themselves. Then they all went home, (Jn 7:53). Then Jn 8:1 begins with the word rendered "But" declaring that Jesus instead - as if He had been present in the meeting of the Sanhedrin at the end of chapter 7 - went to the Mount of Olives - as He often had done before, (Mt 21:1; 24:3; Mk 11:1; 13:3; Lk 21:37; 22:39). So the conjunction rendered "But" connecting 8:1 with 7:53 if it was meant to be part of this passage of Scripture disrupts the continuity of the context of chapter 7 going into chapter 8; for Jesus had not been present in the meeting of the Sanhedrin, so His departure should not have been connected to the previous context with the conjunction rendered "But," (Jn 8:1).
Nevertheless,
the next ten verses of the questionable passage continue with, "At
dawn [the next day] He [Jesus] came again into the Temple." And even
at such an early time, "all the people," in the sense of a large
number of Jews who were seeking Him out to hear what He had to say - they
were coming to Him continually [imperfect tense]. And so having sat
down.... Note that Jesus sitting down in the Temple does not disqualify
this passage from being authentic, as some contend. For He often sat down
while in the Temple, (ref. Mt 26:55 - sat in the Temple courts; Mk 12:41 -
sat down in the Temple Treasury). And He continually was teaching them as
He had done many times before - which teaching pointed to Him as the
coming Messiah through a moment of faith in Him would result in eternal
life ,
(Jn 8:1-2).
Whereupon the scribes and the Pharisees brought to Him a woman having been taken in adultery. They set her in the midst of them, and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was taken ["epautophOrO"] in the very act [of committing the crime of] adultery." Although the scribes and the Pharisees addressed Jesus as "Teacher," they demonstrated little respect for Him as a teacher. They constantly disrupted and challenged Him whenever and wherever He taught. The scribes and the Pharisees continued to present their question to Jesus, "Now Moses, in the Law, commanded us that such should be stoned, [cf. Lev 20:10; Dt 22:22-24)]. But what do You say?" ''' The Greek phrase "ti legeis" rendered "What do You say?" in the NKJV is at the end of the verse making the "You" emphatic so as to put Jesus in an apparent authoritative position on the matter. They had already begun to set Jesus up for this build up by calling Him, "Teacher," (Greek "Didakale"), in verse 4, when they had demonstrated little respect for Him or His teaching.
The scribes and
Pharisees had evidently barged through the crowd that Jesus was teaching
at the Temple creating a sense of urgency. They deliberately interrupted
His teaching, to place the woman they say they found who was caught in
adultery before Jesus in the midst of all the people. They then informed
Jesus of her crime and asked Him a question about condemning and stoning
her to death in order to test Him in the hope of finding fault with His
answer so that they could condemn Him to death, (cf. Jn 7:45-53
).
Stoning was the legal means of execution among the Jews. If one was proven
guilty by two or three witnesses before a court, the witnesses and the
people threw stones upon the person until he died. Several sins were
punishable by this mode of justice:blasphemy, adultery, kidnapping,
witchcraft, etc. (see Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22-24); but it was
subject to Roman approval. Asking for Jesus' opinion was not legal. He was
not one of their judges, nor a Roman authority. The scribes and Pharisees
were using the Law to try kill an innocent Man.
The account of this event offers little doubt that the woman was guilty, especially in the absence of her denial of her guilt when she had the opportunity to speak out when she was alone with Jesus. This was corroborated by the Son of God's command to her, "Go and sin no more," (v. 11), which testifies to her guilt.
Since the rulers had provided no details of evidence to corroborate the charge of adultery; nor information on the man the woman was with, who was not present with the woman to face charges; then Jesus could neither have ruled against the woman nor brought up the possibility of grace and mercy, since the facts of the case were not publically made known.
Furthermore, if
Jesus had told them to stone her to death, He would have been accused of
violating Roman authority and contradicting His own teaching on grace and
mercy, which the administration of the Law does allow for, but at the
discretion of the rulers and judges, of which Jesus was neither. The
scribes and the Pharisees were anxious to find something to accuse Jesus
with such as teaching others to ignore the Law - which could be viewed
itself as a capital offense; or condemn the woman and violate Roman
authority - a capital offense. It was a deliberate set up to destroy Jesus
- as they had discussed at the end of chapter 7. There was little concern
about the guilt of the woman or the man she comitted adultery with (ref.
Jn 7:45-52 ),
(Jn 8:1-5).
So Jesus' response was to stoop down and be writing with His finger on the ground while they waited and repeatedly demanded for Him to answer their question. Note that some contend that the floor that Jesus was writing on was the treasury floor, (cf. 8:20), which was purported to have been a marble floor. Some contend then that He couldn't have been writing on it or did so miraculously. But this presupposes that the floor did not have dust upon it which would have easily afforded writing upon it. Furthermore, the context supports nothing miraculous, nor does it digress into what Jesus was writing. In any case, there is no need to know the condition of the floor or the content of what He wrote in order to properly interpret the passage.
So as the scribes and the Pharisees continued to repeatedly demand that Jesus give them His verdict on the woman caught in adultery as He was stopping down, writing on the ground; Jesus stood up and said to them, "The sinless [one among] you - let him first cast the stone at her." Then He stooped down to the ground again and continued writing on the ground - [imperfect tense signifying an ongoing activity]. Note that this was not to say, as some contend, that Jesus was advocating that only those who were without sin could enforce the Law - something that is not possible with mortal men. In essence, Jesus was not pronouncing judgment upon the woman. He left it up to the rulers to stone her or not. In the final analysis, they had the authority to ignore His judgment since it had no weight in court. Ironically, Jesus was the only One without sin and He did not pass judgment on the woman either way. The context was one of the rulers using the Law to set up Jesus, an individual Who heretofore had not committed any offenses at all, to be entrapped into declaring something that could be used against Him to convict Him of a crime punishable by execution. But the Law of Moses was never intended by God to be instrumental in such an injustice. This attempt at convicting Jesus evidently weighed heavily upon the Pharisees, or it may have been other personal sins - but this sin was the most immediate. And while Jesus pursued writing on the ground, the scribes and Pharisees, having heard what Jesus had to say, and being convicted in their consciences of not being without sin, were going out of the Temple, one by one, having begun with the elders - unto the last ones left. Note that the elders left first - the ones whose point of view was customarily most respected, (ref. Mt 15:2; 27:1, 3, 12, 20). Thereafter the rest of the rulers took the elders' lead. No one took up a stone and threw it at the woman. And Jesus was left alone with the woman in the midst of the Temple area. Whereupon Jesus, having lifted up Himself, and having seen no one but the woman - evidently they were all alone in the area, said to the woman, "Woman, where are those - [your] accusers? Did no one pass sentence upon [you]?" [Greek: "katakrinen," lit., condemn]. And the woman said to Jesus, "No one, LORD." Whereupon Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you;" [Greek, "katakrinO," - not in the sense that He was passing over her sin, but in the sense that He was not going to condemn her to death for her sin under the Law, not being an official judge of the Jewish courts; nor was the purpose of Jesus in His Humanity at this time to condemn sin; but to make provision for forgiveness of sins unto eternal life, (Jn 3:17). Jesus then commanded the woman, "Go and sin no more," in the sense of telling her to not commit adultery any more. Jesus' statement indicated that He, the Son of God, knew that she had committed adultery. And she had not denied that.
It is evident
that in the context of this passage - if this was an actual event that
occurred, albeit not to be part of Scripture - that Jesus was not telling
the woman never to sin again, which is not possible for anyone in this
mortal life, (Jn 3:1-21); but nevertheless to direct ones life away from
sin, as He did the man who was crippled from birth, cf. Jn 5:1-14
;
and especially in the case of the woman to not commit adultery, (Jn
8:6-11).
(Jn 8:12 YLT) '''Again, therefore, Jesus [spoke] to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who is following Me shall not walk in... the darkness, but he shall have the Light of ... life."
(Jn 8:12 YLT) '''Again, therefore, Jesus [spoke] to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who is following Me shall not walk in... the darkness, but he shall have the Light of ... life." =
On the matter of verse 12, if all of the scribes and Pharisees and every Jew that was listening to Jesus' teaching had already left the area in the Temple according to Jn 8:9-10 at the end of the passage in question; then Jn 8:12 - the beginning of the authenticated text - contradicts Jn 8:9-10 since it begins with "Again, therefore Jesus [spoke] to them (to the Pharisees, cf. v. 13), saying..." Jn 8:12 implies a continuation of Jesus' conversation with the Pharisees. But Jn 7:53-8:11 if permitted to be part of the Bible indicates that everyone had left the Temple already. Hence Jn 7:53-8:11 do not fit into the context of John chapter 8. It neither belongs in this section, nor in Scripture as manuscript evidence has indicated.
Hence the phrase in verse 12, "Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them refers to Jesus speaking again to the scribes and Pharisees - the next day after the events of 7:45-52 - with 7:53-8:11 not in view - excluded, not being part of Scripture. The location of Jesus was in the Treasury of the Temple, (Ref. Jn 8:20).
So the phrase in Jn 8:12 rendered, "Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them [to the scribes and Pharisees], saying, "I am the Light of the world," implies the sense of Jesus being a supernatural Beacon which illuminates Truth to the world - the Truth about God, His Holiness and Righteousness, creation, and the purpose of mankind.
The capacity to be the Light of the world demands a Perfectly Righteous Eternal existence in order to have an eternal and perfectly righteous perspective so that Who God is, the character of His Righteousness, His creation, and His purpose for mankind might be accurately and effectively illuminated to all men of all ages.
The quality of being capable of illuminating Truth to the whole world is beyond the capacity of flawed and finite humanity. Jesus' Humanity had to be Perfect, Eternal and Righteous, hence in Perfect union with Diety, (cf. Jn 1:1-14).
[Bible Knowledge Commentary, NT, Walvoord & Zuck, Eds., Victor Books, USA, 1988, p. 303]:
"This discourse continues Jesus' public teaching in the city of Jerusalem in the temple area. How fitting that during the Feast of Tabernalcles, when the large lamps were burning, "Jesus... said, I am the Light of the world."
Note that it was prophesied in the Scriptures that the Messiah would be the Light of the Gentiles and to the world.
(Isaiah 42:1 NKJV) "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
(Isaiah 42:2 NKJV) He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
(Isaiah 42:3 NKJV) A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.
(Isaiah 42:4 NKJV) He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law."
(Isaiah 42:5 NKJV) Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:
(Isaiah 42:6 NKJV) "I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,
(Isaiah 42:7 NKJV) To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
(Isaiah 42:8 NKJV) I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
(Isaiah 42:9 NKJV) Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them." Praise to the Lord."
The next phrase in Jn 8:12, corroborates the necessity for Jesus' Diety, declaring to the scribes and Pharisees, "I am the Light of the world; he who is following Me shall not walk in... the darkness, but he shall have the Light of ... life," in the sense of believing in Jesus Christ for eternal life and then following what Jesus taught about conducting oneself in the temporal life to receive blessings, be provided with a true purpose in life and consequently add eternal value to that temporal life. And the opposite is true relative to the last phrase of Jn 8:12, "but he shall not walk in the darkness, but he shall have the light of life," which indicates that those that do not follow Jesus' teaching by neither believing in Him for eternal life, (cf. Jn 8:24), nor following His teaching would be walking in the darkness of evil - the opposite of what the Light of the world, Jesus Christ was all about.
****** EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER 1
OR
MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SECTION IN JN CHAPTER 8 ******
(Jn 1:1 YLT) "In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (Jn 1:3 NAS) All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (Jn 1:4 NAS) In Him was life, and the Life (temporal and eternal) was the Light of men." =
The verb rendered "was" in verses 1 & 2 and in the phrase "In Him [the Word] was life" from verse 4 is in the durative past tense. Hence the Word "was" and will always be "life" from the beginning of time and creation, i.e., He was and is the eternal source now and forever of all life: physical, spiritual, eternal as Creator and eternal God. Furthermore the phrase in v. 3, "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made" immediately precedes "In Him was life" in v. 4. Hence, the phrase "In Him was life" includes every sense and source of life from creating all things, at the beginning of time and creation to sustaining the life of all things, to being the source of eternal life in which anything that was created exists in Him and is sustained by Him. The Word is Creator, Eternal and God.
(Jn 1:1 YLT) "In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (Jn 1:2 YLT) He [lit., This One] was in [the] beginning with God; (Jn 1:3 NAS) All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (Jn 1:4 NAS) In Him was life, and the Life (temporal and eternal) was the Light of men." =
(Jn 1:4 Greek) en autO zOE En ...kai ..hE zOE En ..to ...phOs .tOn ...anthrOpOn"
..........................In Him ..life ..was, and the .Life was the .Light .of the men" =
The phrase rendered "and the Life was the Light of men" in verse 4 of the NAS calls "the Word," the eternal source of all life: physical, spiritual, eternal as Creator, Eternal and God, (cf. vv. 1-3), "the Life." The original Greek text has "hE zOE" rendered "the Life" and not 'that life," as some maintain.
Furthermore, in verse 5, the Word, the Life is referred to as "the Light of men," a Person and not just light of some kind figuratively emanating from a person. So John uses the term "the Light of men" in the sense of light being the Personification of that which illuminates the truth; and more specifically in the sense that the Word, the Life (temporal and eternal), from the beginning of time and creation was and will always be the Light of men, a Person Who is the illuminating revelation of all men of Himself: the Word, the Life (temporal and eternal), Creator of all things, eternal and all of what is true pertaining to God. The fact that the term "the Light of men" refers to a Person is corroborated by Jn 1:9-14 which portrays the Light of men as a Person, a Man and recognizable as such to other men:
(Jn 1:9 NIV) "The true Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world;
(Jn 1:10 YLT) in the world He was, and the world through Him was made, and the world did not know Him:
(Jn 1:11 NKJV) He came to [all individuals of] His own [plural = all mankind], and His own [singular, people] did not receive Him.
(Jn 1:12 YLT) But as many [of His own, (Jn 1:11a)] as did receive Him to them He gave authority to become sons [lit., children] of God - to those believing in His name:
(Jn 1:13 YLT) who - not of blood nor of a will of flesh, nor of a will of man but - of God were begotten [born].
(Jn 1:14 NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the [One and only from] the Father, full of grace and truth."
Note for it to be true that the Word, the Life (temporal and eternal), from the beginning of time and creation was and will always be the Light of men; men must have been created at the beginning of creation as opposed to evolving later. So the Word, the Life was and will always be the Light of men since the beginning of creation when men were created. Note that this points from the beginning to our Lord's preMessianic existence being discernible in some manner throughout history to men such that men could perceive Who He was and understand truths about God through Him.
(Jn 1:1 YLT) '''In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (Jn 1:4 NAS) In Him was life, and the Life was the Light of men. (Jn 1:5 NKJV) And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (Jn 1:12 YLT) But as many [individuals of His own creation, (Jn 1:11a)] as did receive Him to them He gave authority to become sons [lit., children] of God - to those believing in His name: (Jn 1:13 YLT) who - not of blood [lit., bloods] nor of a will of flesh, nor of a will of man but - of God were begotten [born]. (Jn 1:14 NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the [One and only from] the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:15 YLT) John [lit., witnesses] concerning Him, and [lit., cried out], saying, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who after me is coming, has come before me, for He was before me' (Jn 1:16 YLT) and out of His fullness did we all receive, [even] grace [in place of] grace: (Jn 1:17) For [because] the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (Jn 1:18 NAS) No one has seen God at any time; [but] the [lit., One and only] God Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has [lit., declared] Him.''' =
Although God Almighty is not completely knowable by finite man in His infiniteness; verses 4 & 18 indicate that the Word, declared in vv. 10-18 to be the One and only God Who from the Father has provided since the beginning of time and creation illuminating understanding about Himself and about Who God is, declaring to mankind in His Perfect Humanity, Who God is.
No finite human being has seen God at any time, (Jn 1:18a); but the One and only God, (Jn 1:18b), the Word, Who has always been face to face with God - able to see and intimately know God, (Jn 1:1-2), Who is in the bosom of the Father - in the closest personal intimate relationship with Him, (Jn 1:18b) - has become flesh, (Jn 1:14). And in His Perfect Humanity He has come into the world, (Jn 1:14), to declare through Himself Who God is to mankind, (Jn 1:18). Mankind can now behold the glory as of the One and only from the Father, full of the grace and truth of God, (Jn 1:14). The Word become flesh has made God knowable and known to mankind, so that men can choose to know God and trust in the Word unto an eternal life familial relationship with God, (Jn 1:12-13).
****** END OF EXCERPTS FROM JOHN CHAPTER 1 ******
(Jn 8:13 NKJV) '''The Pharisees, therefore, said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true,
(Jn 8:14 NKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going."
(Jn 8:15 NKJV) You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
(Jn 8:16 YLT) and even if I do judge My judgment is true, because I am not alone [when I judge], but I and the Father Who sent Me [judge together];
(Jn 8:17 NKJV) It is also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true.
(Jn 8:18 YLT) I am [One] Who is testifying of Myself, and the Father Who sent me [does] testify Me."
(Jn 8:19 NKJV) Then they [were saying] to Him "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." '''
(Jn 8:13 NKJV) '''The Pharisees, therefore, said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true, (Jn 8:14 NKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going." ''' =
In verse 13, the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." The present tense "bear witness," signifies linear action, i.e., that Jesus was constantly bearing witness concerning Himself, (cf. Jn 7:16-18; 21-24; 28-29; 8:12). The scribes' and Pharisees' declaration implied that an individual's testimony about himself is automatically false.
(Jn 5:31 NKJV) [Jesus said] "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true."
Jesus had previously said to the Jews that if He bore witness to Himself it would not be true; not in the sense that what He was saying was false, but in the sense that it would be insufficient evidence to be taken by men as valid. The implication is that a man cannot testify to his own credibility, for that would not necessarily be sufficient testimony; for example, in Scripture, a single witness was not acceptable according to the Mosaic Law relative to a murder trial, (Num 35:30; Dt 17:6); nor was it satisfactory to the Jewish authorities of Jesus' time, (Jn 5:31). Note that Jesus had already testified to the Jews of Who He was, and they had not only rejected that truthful testimony, but sought all the more to kill Him.
Once more, in
the time of chapter 8, the scribes and Pharisees challenged whatever Jesus
said - this time by misapplying Scripture, ignoring the details of Jesus'
testimony about Himself, and presenting an irrational argument - a
debater's tactic used when one is without basis for ones conclusions.
Their motivation was simply to destroy Him and His ministry regardless of
the truth, the right or the wrong of it. The particular subject of Jesus
bearing witness to Himself had previously been challenged by the Jewish
rulers; and Jesus quite successfully rebutted their point, (cf. Jn 5:17-47
- see excerpts below );
but this did not stop them from bringing it up again. From a logical and
legal (Mosaic Law) standpoint, an individual's testimony concerning
himself would not necessarily be acceptable as valid testimony if it was
in a murder trial or if it was biased or unsupported with corroborating
evidence. On the other hand, although Scripture requires two or more
witnesses in a murder trial, Jesus was not on trial for murder.
Furthermore, since His testimony concerning Himself was well supported,
then if it had been weighed objectively by the scribes and Pharisees, His
testimony would have been declared as true.
But the scribes and Pharisees were not objective. For example, they took the following passages out of the context and ignored the evidence of His actions which Scripture corroborated in defining Who Jesus is, in order to declare Jesus' testimony about Himself to be untrue:
(Num 35:30 NKJV) Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty."
(Dt 17:6 NKJV) "Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness."
So bearing
witness of oneself is not necessarily untrue as the scribes and Pharisees
contended it was. Whether or not ones testimony about oneself is true
would depend upon the facts, i.e., the evidence presented along with that
testimony. And as a matter of fact, Jesus had repeatedly presented much
evidence, such as His miracles, His knowledge of the Scriptures, (cf. Jn
7:14-19; 46); His life without sin, His descendancy which matched the
descendancy of the promised Messiah as stipulated in Scripture, His words
and actions which were precise fulfillments of Scripture relative to Him
being the Messiah - many of which were repeatedly made evident by Jesus to
the Jewish rulers,
.(Jn 8:13).
So Jesus
answered the scribes and Pharisees and said to them, "Even if I bear
witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and
where I am going;" by this, it is implied that Jesus' testimony,
albeit of Himself, was nevertheless true because in a unique sense He
truly does know where He came from and where He is going because of His
Divine nature as the Son of God; and He had proved all of this through His
life fulfilling Scripture as the Messiah without a flaw. So He truly was
sent from God and is going to the Father as His foreordained destiny
.
Jesus' statement in verse 14 can only be true if He is God. His testimony
was unique and uniquely and Absolutely True - supported by every word and
action that He did when compared to Scripture - the Word and Testimony of
God - as observed by His disciples and enemies alike.
Whereupon, Jesus went on to say, "But you do not know where I come from and where I am going," in the sense that the scribes and Pharisees and all the Jewish rulers did not believe Who Jesus was despite His miracles, His testimony concerning Himself, Scripture which is God's Word, hence the testimony of God, and the testimony to all Israel about Jesus by John the Baptist. The testimony of the scribes and Pharisees about Who Jesus was did not coincide with the facts - the evidence - which Jesus and Scripture - the testimony of God - provided for them, (Jn 8:14).
III cont.) [Jn 8:13-18 cont.]:
(Jn 8:13 NKJV) '''The Pharisees, therefore, said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true,
(Jn 8:14 NKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going."
(Jn 8:15 NKJV) You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
(Jn 8:16 YLT) and even if I do judge My judgment is true, because I am not alone [when I judge], but I and the Father Who sent Me [judge together];
(Jn 8:17 NKJV) It is also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true.
(Jn 8:18 YLT) I am [One] Who is testifying of Myself, and the Father Who sent me [does] testify Me."
(Jn 8:19 NKJV) Then they [were saying] to Him "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." '''
(Jn 8:15 NKJV) ''' "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. (Jn 8:16 YLT) and even if I do judge My judgment is true, because I am not alone [when I judge], but I and the Father Who sent Me [judge together]; (Jn 8:17 NKJV) It is also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true. (Jn 8:18 YLT) I am [One] Who is testifying of Myself, and the Father Who sent me [does] testify Me." (Jn 8:19 NKJV) Then they [were saying] to Him "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." ''' =
Jesus concluded His rebuttal of the scribes' and Pharisees' claim that His judgment - His witness was not true by declaring that they "judge according to the flesh" in the sense of judging according to the human nature, i.e., with a sinful bias. The Jewish rulers typically ignored valid evidence that Jesus presented to them of Who He was - much of which was external, all of which prefectly coincided with Who Scripture described would be the promised Messiah. They deliberately misinterpreted Scripture in a self-serving and threatening manner: demanding that their authority never be questioned or suffer the consequences; and making specious arguments to preserve their status. And Jesus then declared, "I judge no one," in the sense that He did not judge by such a false means - by the flesh, by a bias, by a flawed personal, unsubstantiated and self-serving manner as influenced by a flawed nature. Furthermore, Jesus' judgment was not based upon shallow external appearances, but upon the depths of the individual from within - from His Divine nature which discerned the inner man as only God could do.
(Jn 7:19 NKJV) [Has] not Moses [given] you the Law, ... none of you [practices] the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?'
(Jn 7:20 NKJV) The people answered and said, 'You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?'
(Jn 7:21 NKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, 'I did one work, and you all marvel.
(Jn 7:22 YLT) because of this, Moses [has] given you ... circumcision - not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers - and on a sabbath [you] circumcise a man;
(Jn 7:23 NKJV) If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely [sound] on the Sabbath?
(Jn 7:24 NKJV) Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
For Jesus declared in Jn 8:16, "And even if I do judge My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father Who sent Me judge together," implying that They corroborated One Another making Jesus equal with God - a statement of His Diety. So the passage declares that Jesus judges in accordance with the Father, i.e., in accordance with the nature of God which is Divine and Absolutely True. Hence Jesus has a divine nature like the Father, implying that He is God Himself and without sin, (Jn 8:15-16).
Whereupon, Jesus added, "It is also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true. I am [One] Who is testifying of Myself, and the Father Who sent me [does] testify Me."
(Dt 19:15 NKJV) "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established."
For it is the
Scriptures, whose origin and Author is God, which is the testimony of God
about His Son. It stipulates Who the Messiah to come will be like, what He
will say and do; all of which testify as to Who Jesus is without
exception, .
Furthermore, the miracles that Jesus performed were evidently done via the
power of God, thus authenticating Who Jesus is - that He came from God as
Jesus had repeatedly testified to.
After all of the scribes' and Pharisees' questioning of the validity of whatever Jesus said - their never ending debating tactics - their never conceding a point which Jesus made no matter how well He made it, their constantly circling back to points already well rebutted - they asked Jesus a question which He also had already thoroughly answered more than once (see John chapter 5 excerpts below) - they asked, "Where is Your Father?" The scribes and Pharisees completely ignored Jesus' declaration from Scripture about proper witnesses to Himself, (verses 17-18); and went on another irrational, nonsensical and personal attack by repeatedly asking Him, "Where is Your Father?" not "Who is Your Father." Everything Jesus declared about the Father was only true about God; and Jesus had clearly declared that when He was using the phrase, "My Father," He was referring to God, and the rulers demonstrated that they completely understood Who Jesus meant when He spoke the word, "My Father."
(Jn 5:17 NKJV) "But Jesus answered them [the Jews, (Jn 5:16)], 'My Father has been working [lit., works, present tense] until and now and I have been working [lit., work, present tense].'
(Jn 5:18 NAS) For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."
The scribes and Pharisees' question, "Where is Your Father," was another debating tactic which was meant to divert themselves and Jesus from the truth. And Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."
Jesus' answer
implied that they did not acknowledge that by the word "Father"
in Jn chapter 8, He was referring to God. But it is clear that Jesus was
referring to God in this passage and previous passages as well when He
spoke of His Father to the rulers, (ref. Jn 5:18
).
Jesus concluded that they knew neither Himself nor His Father. Despite their outward "intense devotion" to Scripture which frequently stipulated Who the Father and Who His Son was, they acted as if they knew neither in accordance with what Scripture declared about them.
(Pr 30:4 NKJV) "Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son's name,
If you know?"
And what is remarkable is that the statement Jesus said to them, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also," implies that knowing Jesus was knowing God! - a claim Jesus was making to Deity, (Jn 8:19).
Note that the conflict between Jesus and the rulers of the Jews is especially revealing in chapter 5, which has the same or similar issues as in chapter 8:
****** EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER FIVE
OR MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SECTION OF JN CHAPTER 8
*****
(Jn 5:1 NAS) '''After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. (Jn 5:2 YLT) and there is in Jerusalem by the sheep-[gate] a pool that is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches, (Jn 5:3 YLT) in these were lying a great multitude of the ailing, blind, lame, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. (Jn 5:5 NKJV) Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity [for] thirty-eight years. (Jn 5:6 NKJV) When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" (Jn 5:7 NKJV) The sick man answered Him, "Sir, ["Kurie"], I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." (Jn 5:8 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." (Jn 5:9 NAS) Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet [lit., bed] and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. (Jn 5:10 NAS) So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured [lit., had been healed], "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet [lit., bed]." (Jn 5:11 NKJV) He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk, [be walking].' " (Jn 5:12 NKJV) Then they asked him, "Who is the Man Who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'? " (Jn 5:13 YLT) But he that was healed had not known who he is, for Jesus did move away, a multitude being in the place. (Jn 5:14 NKJV) [After these things] Afterward Jesus found [lit., finds] him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made [lit., have become] well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." (Jn 5:15 NAS)The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus Who had made him well. (Jn 5:16 YLT) and because of this were the Jews persecuting Jesus, and seeking to kill Him, because these things He was doing on a sabbath. (Jn 5:17 NKJV) But Jesus answered them [the Jews, (Jn 5:16)], 'My Father has been working [lit., works, present tense] until now and I have been working [lit., work, present tense]. (Jn 5:18 NAS) For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." =
When the ungrateful man who was healed at the Bethesda pool left the temple, he voluntarily pointed Jesus out to the Jews as the One who made him well, evidently to curry favor with them. He had previously claimed that he was only following Jesus' orders, (Jn 5:11, 15). Yet it was he who picked up his pallet and walked away with it, and then volunteered to point Jesus out to the Jews. Although there was no real violation of the Law, the Jewish leaders thought otherwise, hence the cured man was trying to curry favor with them to avoid being punished, even stoned to death by the Jews by putting all the blame on Jesus.
The Jews
persisted in trying persecute and kill Jesus because He had healed a man
on the Sabbath, (totally ignoring the fact that He had performed a
supernatural miracle from God - a good work that was not forbidden by the
Sabbath Law). In their view, this was a stoning offense, (Jn 5:16).
Although Jesus had disappeared through the crowds to avoid the Jews
before, (cf. Jn 5:13); when the cured man pointed Jesus out, He permitted
an encounter with them. They confronted Him about healing the invalid man
on the Sabbath. Jesus' answer referred to God as His Father in a uniquely
intimate way on the same plane with God, making Himself equal with God,
(cf. Jn 1:1 ).
He then equated the work of God, His Father, with His own work in kind,
quality and duration: God's work has never ceased from the beginning - not
even on the Sabbath; and it consists of works of grace and mercy, of
judgment, of maintaining the universe. The Jews understood that what Jesus
said implied that He was equal with God, and that they sought all the more
to kill Him, (Jn 5:17-18). In the same way that the Pharisees, priests and
Levites performed their duties on the Sabbath, so Jesus was carrying out
His ministry which included healing and preaching the Word. Since the
ceremonial law was kept on the Sabbath Day, why not an act of mercy?
Neither activity was a violation of the Sabbath Law.
For example, if the day of a
Jewish child's birth necessitated circumcision on the Sabbath, the Law
permitted the work to be done (cf. Jn 7:22). The Jewish authorities did
not question the authenticity of Jesus' miraculous healing of the invalid
man, nor did they consider that it came from God, (Jn 3:1).
(Jn 5:15 NAS) "The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus Who had made him well. (Jn 5:16 YLT) and because of this were the Jews persecuting Jesus, and seeking to kill Him, because these things He was doing on a sabbath. (Jn 5:17 NKJV) But Jesus answered them [the Jews, (Jn 5:16)], 'My Father has been working [lit., works, present tense] until now and I have been working [lit., work, present tense]. (Jn 5:18 NAS) For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. (Jn 5:19 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (Jn 5:20 NKJV) For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. (Jn 5:21 NKJV) For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will." =
At first the
Jews sought to kill Jesus because He had allegedly broken the Law by
healing a man on the Sabbath, [totally ignoring the fact that He had
performed a supernatural miracle from God - a good work that was not
forbidden by the Sabbath Law, (Jn 5:16; cf. Jn 3:1)]. They sought all the
more to kill Him when He referred to God as His Father in a uniquely
intimate way on the same plane with God, making Himself equal with God,
(cf. Jn 1:1 ).
Jesus then equated the work of God, His Father, with His own work in kind,
quality and duration: God's work was a work of grace, of judgment, of
maintaining the universe, etc., which never ceases, not even on the
Sabbath, (Jn 5:17-18). In the next three verses, Jesus confirmed to the
Jews that He was claiming equality with God when He stated to them that
He, the Son of God, can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father
do; for whatever the Father does, the Son also does in like manner. So the
works that the Father does defines Who and what He, Jesus does.
Furthermore, He stated that the Father loves the Son and shows Him all
things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than
these, such as the miraculous healing of the invalid] that the Jews may
marvel. For as the Father raises the dead, so the Son gives life to whom
He will, (Jn 5:19-21).
So the relationship between God the Father and His Son, Jesus, is so intimate and supernaturally harmonious that Jesus sees all that the Father does and emulates Him in everything that He does, including raising from the dead whomever He will. Such a capacity which Jesus exemplified was exclusive to God, confirming His claim to be equal with God. It is interesting to note that the Jews never marveled about Jesus' healing of the man at the pool. Instead, they pursued Him in order to kill Him because they falsely viewed His healing as a violation of the Sabbath Law. They totally ignored the fact that He had performed a supernatural miracle from God - a good work that was not forbidden by the Sabbath Law at all.
(Jn 5:19 NKJV) "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (Jn 5:20 NKJV) For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. (Jn 5:21 NKJV) For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. (Jn 5:22 NKJV) For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, (Jn 5:23 NKJV) that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him." =
Jesus goes on to explain further to the Jewish authorities, who were seeking to kill Him for allegedly breaking the Sabbath, that the Father judges no one; for He has committed all judgment to the Son, meaning Jesus Himself; that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father Who sent Him. Jesus goes on to say, evidently as a warning to the Jews, "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him." This implies, especially with Jesus' possession of the honor of God and of His authority to judge all men, that He is equal with God, (Jn 5:22-23).
(Jn 5:24 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him Who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
(Jn 5:24 Greek) "AmEn amEn.legO humin .hoti .ho ..ton logon .mou .agouOn
............................"Truly .truly ..I say to you, that .the the .word .my ....hearing
kai pisteuOn [nom sing pres part].....tO pempsanti ....me ..echei zOEn .aiOnion
and believing [lit., the believing one] the having sent .me, .has ...life ....eternal,
kai .eis ..krisin ......ouk erchetai alla metabebEken ek ......tou thanatou eis ..tEn zOEn."
and into .judgment not .comes ...but .has passed .....out of the death ......into the life" =
Jesus then says, emphatically, to the Jews, "He who hears My word...
[in the sense of the message He has repeatedly given on how to have eternal life]
and believes in Him Who sent Me...
[i.e., believes in Jesus' messsage that God will provide eternal life through the atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ Whom He sent into the world, (cf. Jn 1:12-13; 3:16)]
has [immediate possession of] everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed out of [eternal] death into [eternal] life."
The Greek phrase "ho... pisteuOn," literally "the... believing [one]," rendered "he who... believes" in the NKJV, is a nominative participle, a noun with the definite article, signifying the one who is the believer in the Father Who sent Him, in the sense of the one who believes in Jesus' message that the Father sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, (cf. Jn 3:14-16). It has a moment of faith in view. So whoever becomes the believing one in a moment's time has immediate possession of eternal life, for the Greek word "echei," rendered "has" is in the present tense giving one a present tense possession of eternal life once one becomes the believer, which duration is forever. The verse goes on to say, and [the believing one] will not be condemned, he has passed from [eternal] death to [eternal] life. The verb in the phrase "has passed from [eternal] death to [eternal] life" which is rendered from the Greek verb "metabebeken," is in the perfect tense, which portrays an action that has been completed in the past with continuing results in the present, i.e., an everlasting concept which signifies that one has permanently passed from eternal death to eternal life. Physical death and physical life are not in view because the phrase cannot be referring to an individual who is physically dead, believing in the gospel and then as a result becoming physically alive. Furthermore, no deeds are in view in order to receive eternal life, only a moment of faith alone in Christ alone. Finally, eternal life once received because of the lasting quality of eternal means forever. Note that the phrase rendered "believes in Him [meaning God] Who sent Me [meaning Jesus Christ]" is unique in an eternal life passage; nevertheless it is the same in content as those passages which refer to believing in Jesus Christ unto eternal life, (cf. Jn 1:12-13; 3:14-16).
(Jn 5:19 NKJV) "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (Jn 5:20 NKJV) For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. (Jn 5:21 NKJV) "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. (Jn 5:22 NKJV) For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, (Jn 5:23 NKJV) that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. (Jn 5:24 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him Who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (Jn 5:25 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. (Jn 5:26 NAS) For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself. (Jn 5:27 NAS) and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. =
After having declared that those who believe in Jesus' message that God has sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world should have eternal life, (Jn 5:24); Jesus emphatically declared "the hour is coming, and now is" [in the sense of it being imminent], when those of the dead who hear the voice of the Son of God, Jesus, [which implies God's enabling of the dead to hear His voice - all those who were believers] will live [evidently will be resurrected by Jesus from the dead to eternal life all those who believed in Jesus unto eternal life], (Jn 5:25, cf. 5:24). The power behind this, Jesus stipulated was Himself: "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself," [in the sense of Jesus, the Son of God in His Humanity being able to create life and raise the dead, giving physical and eternal life to whomever He chooses, (Jn 5:26; cf. Jn 5:21). Note that Jesus in His Diety already has life in Himself, because being God He has always had all the powers of God.
(Jn 1:1 YLT) "In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(Jn 1:3 NAS) All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
(Jn 1:4 NAS)
In Him was life, and the Life was the Light of men.
]"
Furthermore, Jesus stated that God gave His Son authority to execute judgment because He, Jesus, is the Son of Man," (cf. Jn 1:51) - judgment in the sense of having the complete and full authority of God to judge all mankind, all creation, (Jn 5:27).
(Jn 1:12 YLT) "But as many [of His own, (Jn 1:11a)] as did receive Him to them He gave authority to become sons [lit., children] of God - to those believing in His name: (Jn 1:13 YLT) who - not of blood nor of a will of flesh, nor of a will of man but - of God were begotten [born]... (Jn 3:14 NIV) [And] just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, (Jn 3:15 NKJV) that whoever believes in Him should not perish but [should] have eternal life... (Jn 3:18 NKJV) He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the [one and only] Son of God... (Jn 3:36 NAS) He who believes in the Son has eternal life: [but] he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him... (Jn 5:17 NKJV) But Jesus answered them [the Jews, (Jn 5:16)], 'My Father has been working [lit., works, present tense] until and now and I have been working [lit., work, present tense]. (Jn 5:18 NAS) For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. (Jn 5:19 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (Jn 5:20 NKJV) For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. (Jn 5:21 NKJV) For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. (Jn 5:22 NKJV) For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, (Jn 5:23 NKJV) that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. (Jn 5:24 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him Who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (Jn 5:25 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. (Jn 5:26 NAS) For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself. (Jn 5:27 NAS) and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. (Jn 5:28 NAS) Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, (Jn 5:29 NAS) and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. (Jn 5:30 YLT) I am not able of Myself to do anything; according as I hear I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father Who sent Me." =
Since eternal
life comes exclusively through a moment of faith alone in Christ alone and
no other way, (Jn 1:12-13; 3:14-18, 36 and 5:24); then the resurrection /
judgment by works of Jn 5:28-29, (which has in view all who remain in the
grave after the first resurrection of all who trusted alone in Jesus
Christ), cannot include individuals who have believed in Jesus Christ unto
eternal life and received forgiveness of all of their sins. Believers must
have been resurrected prior to the judgment in Jn 5:28-29 because they
will not have to undergo judgment as to whether or not by their works they
will receive eternal life or eternal condemnation. Scripture has declared
that believers shall not come into judgment but have passed from eternal
death to eternal life, (Jn 5:24, cf. 1:12-13; 3:14-18, 36). Other passages
in Scripture corroborate that all believers will be raised in a First
Resurrection prior to the one in view in Jn 5:28-29
.
This is not to say that when an individual becomes a believer he will perform nothing but good deeds and on that basis must continue to keep or verify possession of eternal life. For no man can lead a life of perfection, not even after he becomes a believer.
On the other hand, since it is true that all those who have not believed in Christ's atoning sacrifice for them stand condemned already, (Jn 3:18, 36), indicating that all men have an internal sin nature problem that contaminates every action; then no one can ever be given eternal life on the basis of what they do. So the Second Resurrection will be comprised of all individuals who have never accepted the free gift of the righteousness of Christ by a moment of faith alone in Christ alone. They will be judged by their deeds to determine their eternal destiny.
So, to review:
after Jesus declared that the dead who hear the voice of the Son of God will be raised to eternal life, (Jn 5:25-26; cf. Jn 5:24);
and after He indicated that God gave Him authority to execute judgment, (Jn 5:22, 27);
Jesus tells the Jews not to marvel (not to question) that the Father has given the Son - Himself - all authority to execute judgment upon all mankind for He said that an hour was coming when all who remain in the grave, [every unbeliever, cf. Jn 5:24-25], will hear His voice and come forth; i.e., will be resurrected from the dead, to receive His judgment. The parameters given in Jn 5:28-29 for judging those in this Second Resurrection are two in number: (1) Those who have done nothing but good deeds will go to a resurrection of eternal life - which will be none of them, (cf. Jn 3:18, 36). (2) Those who have committed any evil deed will go to a resurrection of eternal judgment / condemnation - which will be all of them, (cf. Jn 3:18, 36).
And the One Who will judge the eternal outcome of all men will be Jesus Christ Himself Whom God gave authority to execute such judgment because He is the Son of Man, (Jn 5:22, 27; cf. Jn 3:15).
His judgment will not be of His own accord, for He is not able of Himself to do anything but that which is according to the will of the Father Who sent Him. As He hears the will of God, He judges accordingly. His judgment is absolutely righteous, because it is the judgment of God, (Jn 5:30).
HENCE JESUS DECLARED THAT HE HAD GREATER TESTIMONY THAN JOHN'S - THE FATHER'S:
AND JESUS SAID THAT THE FATHER WHO SENT HIM TESTIFIED OF HIM.
(Jn 5:17 NKJV) But Jesus answered them [the Jews, (Jn 5:16)], 'My Father has been working [lit., works, present tense] until and now and I have been working [lit., work, present tense]. (Jn 5:18 NAS) For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. (Jn 5:19 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (Jn 5:20 NKJV) For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. (Jn 5:21 NKJV) For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. (Jn 5:22 NKJV) For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, (Jn 5:23 NKJV) that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. (Jn 5:24 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him Who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (Jn 5:25 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. (Jn 5:26 NAS) For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself. (Jn 5:27 NAS) and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. (Jn 5:28 NAS) Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, (Jn 5:29 NAS) and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. (Jn 5:30 YLT) I am not able of Myself to do anything; according as I hear I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father Who sent Me. (Jn 5:31 NKJV) If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. (Jn 5:32 NKJV) There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know [lit., have known] that the witness which he witnesses of Me is true. (Jn 5:33 NKJV) You have sent [Jewish authorities] to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. (Jn 5:34 NKJV) Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. (Jn 5:35 NKJV) He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. (Jn 5:36 NKJV) But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish - the very works that I do - bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. (Jn 5:37 NAS ) And the Father Who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. (Jn 5:38 NAS) You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him Whom He sent. (Jn 5:39 NAS) You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; (Jn 5:40 NAS) and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. (Jn 5:41 YLT) Glory from man I do not receive, (Jn 5:42 YLT) but I have known you, that the love of God ye have not in yourselves. (Jn 5:43 YLT) I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive Me; if another may come in his own name, him you will receive; (Jn 5:44 NAS) How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the One and only God? (Jn 5:45 NAS) Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope; (Jn 5:46 YLT) for if [you] were believing Moses, [you] would have been believing Me, for he wrote concerning Me; (Jn 5:47 NAS) But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" =
Jesus said to the Jews that if He bore witness to Himself it would not be true; not in the sense that what He was saying was false, but in the sense that it would be insufficient evidence to be taken by men as valid. The implication is that a man cannot testify to his own credibility, for that would be not be sufficient for a single witness was not acceptable according to the Mosaic Law, (Num 35:30; Dt 17:6); nor to the Jewish authorities, (Jn 5:31). Note that Jesus had already testified to the Jews of Who He was, and they had not only rejected that truthful testimony, but sought all the more to kill Him, (Jn 5:17-30).
On the other hand, Jesus mentioned another testimony who bore witness of Him whose testimony He had known was true: that of John the Baptist to whom the Jews had sent authorities to investigate, (cf. Jn 1:19-27). Jesus again declared that John the Baptist's testimony about Him was true, (Jn 5:32-33); but He told them that He received testimony from no man - even John the Baptist, implying that only the Father's testimony will do.
(Jn 3:31 NKJV) "He Who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He Who comes from heaven is above all.
(Jn 3:32 NKJV) And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony."
When Jesus said He received testimony from no man, for only the Father's testimony will do, the Jews having rejected Jesus' and John's testimony; He indicated that he said these things because there was greater testimony from the Father which the Jews might choose to believe and be saved. For John was the burning and shining lamp of truth; but the Jews were only willing for a while to rejoice in his light until they found out that he was not the Christ, or the Prophet Who was to come, (Jn 1:19-27). Hence He declared that He had greater testimony than John's: the works that He did which the Father had given Him to finish which bore witness of Who He was - that the Father had sent Him, (Jn 5:33-36). Previously, Jesus indicated that the works of the Father defined Who He was and what He, Jesus, did.
"Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner."
Note that Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews acknowledged that Jesus had come from God... for no one was able to do the works He did if God were not with Him:
(Jn 3:1 YLT) "And there was [a] man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus his name, [a] ruler of the Jews,
(Jn 3:2 YLT) this one [Nicodemus, (v. 1)] came unto Him by night, and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we have known that from God [you have] come - a teacher, for no one these signs is able to do that [which you do] if God [is] not... with Him.' "
And Jesus said that the Father Who sent Him testified of Him. The Greek verb "memarturEken" rendered "has testified" in Jn 5:37 is in the perfect tense which refers to God's ongoing revelation about His Son, Jesus, to men and through the Scriptures of their time, i.e., Moses and the Prophets, which stipulated the works that Jesus would do. So Jesus said to the Jews that the Father Who sent Him had testified of Him. The point is implied that if you observed what Jesus did and compared it to Who the Father was and what He testified to in Scripture, it would verify Who Jesus was and in Him you would see the Father. But since the Jews neither believed that the works Jesus performed were those given to Him by the Father to do, nor believed that He was the One Whom God sent so that they might have eternal life; Jesus concluded that the Jews had neither heard the Father's voice nor seen His form, nor did they have His word abiding in them in the sense of it knowing it and having it operate in their lives, (Jn 5:37-38). Jesus went on to say, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life," in the sense that they believed that the act of searching the Scriptures in the subjective false manner that they did, twisting them to serve their own purposes, yet unwilling to believe in the testimony they provided about Jesus, would give them eternal life. Jesus said, ironically, that the Scriptures testified about Him implying that their futile self-serving search of the Scriptures resulted in them being unwilling to accept the message in Scripture that one may come to Him by faith so that they might have eternal life, (Jn 5:39-40). He concluded that He was not motivated to seek glory from man because He knew that the character of man was not trustworthy.
(Jn 2:23 NAS) Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.
(Jn 2:24 YLT) and Jesus himself was not trusting himself to them, because of his knowing all [men],
(Jn 2:25 NKJV) and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man."
And for this reason He declared that the Jewish authorities did not have the love of God in them.
When Jesus said that He did not receive glory from man, He implied that He received glory from His Father, not the least of which was conveyed through His miracles and works which were prophesied in Scripture as coming from God, (cf. Jn 3:1-2). Jesus said that He came in His Father's name but the Jews did not receive Him; yet if another came in his own name, they would receive him, (Jn 5:41-43). He declared in a rhetorical question, "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another [from fellow men] and you do not seek the glory that is from the One and only God?" In conclusion, Jesus said for them not to think that He would accuse them before the Father, for the one who accused them was Moses, in whom they had set their hope of eternal life. He implied that they had actually not been believing in what Moses wrote, because He said that Moses wrote concerning Him giving evidence that they did not believe in Moses, so He asked them rhetorically how then would they believe in His words, (Jn 5:44-47).
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER FIVE ******
(Jn 8:20 NKJV) These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, [teaching] in the Temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.
(Jn 8:21 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come."
(Jn 8:22 NKJV) So the Jews said, "Will He [not] kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"
(Jn 8:23 NASB) And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
(Jn 8:24 NKJV) Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that [I am], you will die in your sins."
(Jn 8:25 CBL Interlinear) So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" [And] Jesus said to them, "[I am] The Beginning" [of all things]. "Just what I have been saying to you.
(Jn 8:26 NKJV) I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He Who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."
(Jn 8:27 YLT) They knew not that of the Father He [was speaking] to them.
(Jn 8:28 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them, "When you shall [have lifted] up the Son of Man, then you will know that [I am], and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.
(Jn 8:29 YLT) and He Who sent Me is with Me; the Father did not leave Me alone, because I, the things pleasing to Him, do always."
(Jn 8:30 YLT) As He is speaking these things, many believed in him;
(Jn 8:31 NASB) So Jesus was saying to those Jews Who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
(Jn 8:32 HOLMAN) you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
(Jn 8:33 NKJV) They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone [lit., "Not to anyone have we been enslaved - never]. How can You say, 'You will [become] free?"
(Jn 8:34 NASB) Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone [doing] sin is the slave of sin.
(Jn 8:35 NASB)
The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son does remain
forever ["aiOna" = forever .
(Jn 8:36 ASV) If therefore the Son shall [future: "will"] make you free, [you] shall ["will"] be free indeed.
(Jn 8:37 YLT) I have known that [you] are [the] seed of Abraham, but [you] seek to kill Me, because My word [has] no place in you;
(Jn 8:38 YLT) I - that which I have seen with My Father do speak, and [you], therefore, that which [you] have seen with your father - [you] do."
(Jn 8:39 NKJV) They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would [be doing] the works of Abraham;
(Jn 8:40 YLT) and now, [you] seek to kill Me - a Man Who [has] spoken to you the truth I heard from God; this Abraham did not [do];
(Jn 8:41 NKJV) You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father - God."
(Jn 8:42 YLT) Jesus then said to them, "If God were your Father, [you would be] loving Me, for I came forth from God, and am come; for neither have I come of Myself, but He [Who] sent Me;
(Jn 8:43 NASB) Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.
(Jn 8:44 HOLMAN) You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires [lusts]. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars.
(Jn 8:45 NKJV) But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
(Jn 8:46 NKJV) Which of you convicts Me of sin? And If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?
(Jn 8:47 NASB) He Who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."
(Jn 8:48 NKJV) Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
(Jn 8:49 NKJV) Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
(Jn 8:50 YLT) and I do not seek My own glory; there is [One] Who is seeking and is judging;
(Jn 8:51 HOLMAN) I assure you: If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death - ever!
(Jn 8:52 YLT) The Jews, therefore, said to him, "Now we have known that [You have] a demon; Abraham did die and the prophets, and [You]... say, 'If any one [keeps] My word, he shall not taste of death - forever!
(Jn 8:53 HOLMAN) Are You greater than our father Abraham who died? Even the prophets died. Who do You pretend to be?"
(Jn 8:53 CBL Interlinear) Not are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? [Are you?] And the prophets died! Whom do yourself you make [to be]?"
(Jn 8:54 YLT) Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father Who is glorifying Me, of Whom you say that He is our God;
(Jn 8:55 NKJV) Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.
(Jn 8:56 NKJV) Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
(Jn 8:57 NKJV) Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
(Jn 8:58 NKJV) Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
(Jn 8:59 YLT) They took up; therefore, stones that they [might] cast [aorist tense] at Him, but Jesus [was hidden] [passive voice indicating a supernatural hiding by God], and went forth out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so [passing] by." '''
Such a supernatural hiding affirms God's Absolute Sovereignty over His preordained plan to make provision for the sins of the whole world through His Son.
(Jn 8:20 NKJV) '''These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, [teaching] in the Temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come. (Jn 8:21 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come." (Jn 8:22 NKJV) So the Jews said, "Will He [not] kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?" (Jn 8:23 NASB) And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. (Jn 8:24 NKJV) Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that [I am], you will die in your sins." ''' =
Author John declared that the words which Jesus spoke to the Pharisees (Jn 8:12-19) were spoken to them in the Treasury during the time He was teaching the people in the Temple. The treasury was located in the Court of the Women. Thus was concluded another episode of conflict between Jesus and the rulers of Israel. This is further confirmed by the last phrase in verse 20: "and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come," implying that this particular episode had come to a close with no one laying hands on Jesus, for His hour had not yet come signifying God's sovereign control over all things - that Jesus' destiny was not in the hands of men, (cf. Jn 2:4; 7:6, 30; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1).
[CBL Commentary]:
"Jesus was to suffer and die at the next Passover, not during the Feast of Tabernacles. It was the Passover that symbolized the deliverance Messiah, the slain lamb, would bring. Moreover, Pentecost (50 days after Passover) had been designated by God as the feast at which the Holy Spirit would be poured out," (Jn 8:20).
Then in Jn 8:21, author John wrote that Jesus was saying to them [to the scribes and Pharisees] - not necessarily immediately following the words in verse 19: "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin, (singular). Where I go you cannot come." The phrase rendered "I am going away" is emphatic; and it refers to His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. Furthermore, Jesus stipulated that the rulers will seek Him evidently after they have died. This implies that the Pharisees would largely remain unbelievers and when they died, they would die in their sin, singular, i.e., their sin natures which commit acts of sin, which would remain with them forever - even in the afterlife. It is evident that the one thing which Christ did not die and pay for was the sin of unbelief in Him for providing payment for ones sins. Hence those that never believed in Him would die without God's forgiveness, whereupon verse 21 states that they would seek Jesus, the Son of God; but it would be too late. They would not find Him in the afterlife, for where Jesus would go - to heaven - they could not come, (cf. Jn 7:33-36). They will have died in their sin, i.e., they will have remained in their sinful condition, forever to continue to possess their sin natures. They will be unqualified to be residents in heaven, hence they will go to Hades in the center of the earth in the afterlife to await transferral into Gehenna - the Lake of Fire. For salvation unto eternal life in heaven could only be received via a moment of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone as Jesus had repeatedly testified to the Jews, (Jn 3:1-18; 5:21-24, 39-45; 6:29-40, 47-58; 7:38). Hence to believe in Jesus' payment for ones sins results in having the sin nature removed from ones being in the afterlife, and placement in heaven to forever be with the LORD.
Whereupon, the scribes and the Pharisees - remaining willfully ignorant of Who Jesus was, not willing to believe in Him, despite all the evidence - said, "Will He [not] kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"
The scribes and the Pharisees evidently believed that because of their physical descendancy from Abraham, and especially because of their high religious position in the nation Israel, God's chosen people - with their religiosity which they so proudly displayed in public every day; that they were assured of a high position in the afterlife in the Eternal Kingdom of God. Hence when Jesus said to them in verse 21, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come," they sarcastically concluded that since they thought that they were guaranteed eternal life in the Eternal Kingdom of God as opposed to suffering in Gehenna; and since Jesus said where He was going they could not come; then they perversely enjoyed asking the question, "Will He [not] kill Himself?" concluding that Jesus must be going to kill Himself due to the Greek participle mEti" rendered "not" implying an affirmative answer that He was going to kill Himself and end up being eternally punished in Gehenna for committing suicide - another false notion which came out of their perverse, self-serving, unbiblical religiosity. Notice that they completely ignored Jesus' statement in verse 21, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come" a statement which clearly confirms that Jesus was speaking of His death and His presence in heaven. But the scribes and Pharisees perversely twisted Jesus' words concerning His earthly departure to insinuate that He would commit suicide and go to the darkest place in Gehenna / Hell for punishment instead of what Scripture clearly teaches to be to Heaven to be glorified by His Father for being obedient to the cross as His mission to die for the sins of the whole world, (Isa 9:6-7; 53:1-12). The Jews' arrogant mockery covered over their unbelief, which is often used as a debating tactic when the truth was not being sought, (Jn 8:21-22).
(Jn 7:33 YLT) "Jesus, therefore, said to them, 'Yet a little time I am with you, and I go away unto Him Who sent Me;
(Jn 7:34 NKJV) You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.
(Jn 7:35 NKJV) Then the Jews said among themselves, 'Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion [of the Jews] among the Greeks [i.e., Gentiles] and teach the Greeks?
(Jn 7:36 YLT) What is this word that He said, '[You] will seek Me, and [you] shall not find [Me]? and, 'Where I am, [you] are not able to come?' "
Jesus' words in
Jn 7:33-34 which, as in Jn 8:21, referred to His death, resurrection and
ascension to heaven, were likewise perverted by the Jewish rulers. Their
perversion in Jn 7:35-36 included arrogant sarcasm: 'Where does He intend
to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion
[of the Jews] among the Greeks [i.e., Gentiles] and teach the Greeks? What
is this word that He said, ''[You] will seek Me, and [you] shall not find
[Me]? and, 'Where I am, [you] are not able to come?'
The scribes and Pharisees constantly perverted Jesus' words to ridicule Him. Here in Jn 7:35-36, they implied that since Jesus could not convince the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem of His teachings, that He was going to go away and hide Himself amongst the Hellenistic Jews of the dispersion and the Greeks (Gentiles) and try to teach them instead, (Jn 8:21-22).
In response to the scribes' and Pharisees' accusation of suicide in Jn 8:22, Jesus was saying to them - and to all mankind - in Jn 8:23, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world." The phrases rendered "You are from below," and "You are of this world," speak of the whole human race which is separated from being with the Father and the Son in heaven by a sin nature, which commits acts of sin. This is not to say that "from below" means Gehenna / the Lake of Fire, as some contend. For none of the rulers nor the human race originated in Gehenna / the Lake of Fire; nor will all of them be destined for there - only those who did not belieev that Jesus was "I am," (Jn 8:24). But it does indicate that since humanity is of the world, all men have a sin nature, with the exception of Jesus Himself, and need forgiveness of sin. This is implied in Jesus' statement in Jn 8:21, "You will die in your sin." The phrases "I am from above," and "I am not of this world," speak of Jesus, declaring from whence He came into the world. He came from above, from Heaven. This implies that He is Eternal - the unique Son of God - a declaration of His Diety, (Jn 1:1-14), (Jn 8:23).
Jesus then repeated Himself in the next verse for emphasis: "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that [I am], you will die in your sins,"
The Greek phrase "egO eimi," rendered "[I am]," in the NKJV is the title for the Messiah and a strong affirmation of Diety.
(Ex 3:14 NKJV) '''And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," [Greek Septuagint: "egO eimi"] And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you." '''
(Isa 43:10 Septuagint) "Be ye my witnesses, and I too am a witness, saith the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know, and believe, and understand that [I am]: [Greek: "egO eimi,"] before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none.
(Isa 43:11 Septuagint) I am God; and beside me there is no Saviour."
So Jesus in Jn 8:24 referred to Himself as "egO eimi," = "[I am]" meaning God and Saviour; and in this specific context as the Christ, the Messiah - both God and Man, Who was to come from God Who would make provision for ones sins; and in the future, rule on the Throne of David forever: Isa 9:6-7; 53:1-12; Jn 1:29; 3:15-18). Notice that the word rendered "sins" in Jn 8:24 is plural signifying that those who do not believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sins unto eternal life in the eternal Kingdom of God will carry their capacity to sin and commit further acts of sin out of that nature to suffer the effects of their self-destructive evil for the rest of eternity in Gehenna / the Lake of Fire after they die - despite the fact that Jesus Christ paid the price for their sins so that they need not have suffered for the rest of eternity.
Since one who does not believe in Jesus dies in ones sins; then one who does believe in Jesus being "I am" would be forgiven of ones sins and enter into a new and eternal life after they die that is characterized by righteousness, implying that their natures will be changed to righteous ones, (Jn 8:24).
(Jn 8:25 CBL Interlinear) So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" [And] Jesus said to them, "[I am] The Beginning" [of all things]. "Just what I have been saying to you. (Jn 8:26 NKJV) I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He Who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." (Jn 8:27 YLT) They knew not that of the Father He [was speaking] to them. =
The scribes and
Pharisees continued their interrogation of Jesus in an effort to catch Him
saying something that they could use to accuse Him of a capital offense
and then kill Him. Since Jesus' testimony, His miracles and Scripture -
the testimony of God ..-
all perfectly corroborated one another and made it clear Who He was; and
since the rulers did not want to believe anything that might threaten
their position in the world; they became exasperated and kept asking Him,
"Who are You?" hoping for an answer that could be determined as
blasphemous. Jesus finally responded to their question with "TEn
archEn ho ti kai lalO humin." Since the first phrase of His answer, "TEn
archEn," is in an emphatic position at the beginning of the verse
literally means, "The beginning;" and since it is in the
accusative case, i.e., the object; and since no word for "from"
occurs in the original text as some attempt to insert in the text in order
to interpret the verse to say, "Just what I have been saying from the
beginning," then Jesus' response to the ruler's question of "Who
are You?" is, "I am the beginning," in the sense of being
the Creator of all things, (cf. Jn 1:1-4). The remaining part of Jesus'
answer which follows, rendered "What I have been saying to you,"
reflects upon the first part that Jesus has been saying all along: that He
is the Beginning, the Creator of all things - God, (Jn 8:25).
Then Jesus moved on to declare that He had many things to say and to judge concerning the scribes and Pharisees. He indicated that His testimony would be valid with the following statements: "But He Who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him" - referring to His Father, meaning God - as He frequently had done in previous encounters with them. Hence Jesus declared that He was speaking as the Voice of the Father. But the Pharisees still willfully refused to make the connection and openly acknowledge that Jesus was indeed referring to God His Father, and rejected that everything Jesus spoke of to the world, He heard from the Father; despite the clear statements on this issue that Jesus repeatedly made which coincided precisely with Scripture. Their mindset would not allow them to acknowledge Him to be the Son of God Who came from the Father in heaven - from God. Recall that Jesus told them in 8:24 that if they did not believe in Who He said He was, i.e., "eimi egO" = "I am," it would bring judgment upon themselves - they would die in their sins, (Jn 8:26-27).
(Jn 8:28 NKJV) "Then Jesus said to them, "When you shall [have lifted] up the Son of Man [referring to Himself, cf. Jn 3:14-15], then you will know that [I am], and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. (Jn 8:29 YLT) and He Who sent Me is with Me; the Father did not leave Me alone, because I, the things pleasing to Him, do always." =
Then, in
further answer to the scribes' and Pharisees' question of verse 25, "Who
are You?" Jesus spoke of Himself as the Son of Man being lifted up of
which subject He had previously spoken to Nicodemus - a Pharisee and
member of the Sanhedrin, (Jn 3:14-15
). This again was a reference and prediction that Jesus, the Son of Man,
would be nailed on the cross and lifted up upon it to be crucified to
death for that which He was not guilty of but for the iniquity of all
mankind, (ref. Jn 3:15-16; cf. Isa 53:1-12). Following this declaration,
Jesus predicted, "When you shall [have lifted] up the Son of Man
[referring to Himself, (cf. Jn 3:14-15)], then you will know that [I am],
[Greek: "egO eimi" - the words of God's self-disclosure to Moses
in Ex 3:14 Septuagint translation - here referring to the Christ - the One
to come Who is both God and Man] and that I do nothing of Myself; but as
My Father taught Me, I speak these things.
(Isa 43:10 Septuagint) "Be ye my witnesses, and I too am a witness, saith the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know, and believe, and understand that [I am]: [Greek: "egO eimi,"] before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none.
(Isa 43:11 Septuagint) I am God; and beside me there is no Saviour."
So Jesus' nature and His message have always been that which came from God; and everything He said and did coincided precisely with Scripture.
For example, Scripture indicates that the Son of Man, Who is both God and Man - the Anointed One of God, (ref. Dan 9:26), would come down from heaven to receive and rule His eternal kingdom on the earth - given to Him by God the Father, the Ancient of Days:
(Dan 7:13 NKJV) "I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days [God],
And they brought Him near before Him.
(Dan 7:14 NKJV) Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kindgom the one
Which shall not be destroyed."
Since it had
been repeatedly established that many of the Jewish rulers were seeking to
find any means to kill Jesus yet avoid crowd riots and/or Roman
retribution, (ref. Jn 5:16-18
, 7:1
, 7:19
, 7:25
; then the fulfillment of Scripture of Jesus' prediction of Himself being
lifted up as the Son of Man evidently on the cross - to be murdered by the
Jewish rulers themselves - would serve to corroborate all that He had been
telling them about Himself - that He indeed was the Christ, the Son of
Man; and that He did nothing of Himself; but as His Father - God in heaven
- had taught Him in His Humanity; those were the things that He was always
speaking of.
The execution of the Anointed One - the Christ Whom Jesus was claiming to be is corroborated in Scripture for the Jewish rulers to have known about in Jesus' time:
3)
[Dan 9:26 ]:
(Dan 9:26 NIV) "After the sixty-two 'sevens' [Heb. "shabuwa' " literally "seven-period" the Anointed One [Jesus Christ] will be cut off [i.e., excecuted as a criminal] but not for Himself. [Then] The people of the ruler [the Antichrist] who will come will destroy the city [of Jerusalem] and the sanctuary [of the temple]. The end [of human history as we know it] will come like a flood. War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed." (Jn 8:28).
(Jn 8:28 NKJV) "Then Jesus said to them, "When you shall [have lifted] up the Son of Man [referring to Himself, cf. Jn 3:15], then you will know that [I am], and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. (Jn 8:29 YLT) and He Who sent Me is with Me; the Father did not leave Me alone, because I, the things pleasing to Him, do always," (cont.) =
The word rendered "Me" is emphatic in Jn 8:29; and when this understanding is combined with the positive "[He Who sent Me is with Me]," and the negative "the Father did not leave Me alone" they emphatically convey the meaning that God was and is forever present with His Son in His Humanity.
So when Jesus stated in Jn 8:29, "And He Who sent Me is with Me; the Father did not leave Me alone, because I, the things pleasing to Him, do always," this is the fourth time in this conversation between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees, that Jesus declared that He had been sent by the Father, and had always done the works of the Father, (vv. 16, 18, 26, 29). This implies an ongoing, intimate and perfect relationship with God that in turn implies Jesus' own Perfection in His Humanity. Furthermore, the Father was always with Him.
Jesus could only be speaking of God His Father. Jesus' declaration that the things pleasing to His Father He always did implied that He never sinned - a testimony of His Diety and His Holiness, (Jn 8:29).
(Jn 8:30 YLT) '''As He is speaking these things, many believed in him; (Jn 8:31 NASB) So Jesus was saying to those Jews Who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; (Jn 8:32 HOLMAN) you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." ''' =
As Jesus was responding to the scribes' and Pharisees' hostile interrogation, many Jews believed in Him in the sense of trusting alone in Him alone for forgiveness of sins unto eternal life as He had been preaching, so they would not die in their sins, (ref. Jn 8:24; cf. Jn 3:1-16; 5:24; 6:47). This implies that while Jesus was being interrogated, disrupted and ridiculed by the scribes and Pharisees, the crowd of Jews who came to hear His teaching were also around Him. So they were hearing the same message that the scribes and Pharisees were hearing relative to Jesus debating with the rulers about Who He was. And as a result many Jews believed in Him, despite the rulers making a practice of interrupting Jesus' teaching in order to disrupt Him from giving His message, and confronting Him in an attempt to find something He said or did that would give them cause to proceed to condemn Him to death.
(Jn 7:28 YLT) "Jesus cried [out], therefore, in the Temple, teaching and saying, '[You have both known Me, and [you] have known whence I am; and I have not come of Myself, but He Who sent Me is true, Whom [you] have not known;
(Jn 7:29 YLT) and I have known Him, because I am from Him, and He did send Me.'
(Jn 7:30 CBL) Therefore they were seeking to take Him, but no one laid the hand upon Him, because His hour had not yet come.
(Jn 7:31 YLT) and many out of the multitude did believe in Him, and said - 'The Christ - when He may come - will He do more signs than these that this One did?' " (Jn 8:30).
So, with the
understanding in Jn 8:30 that many Jews believed Him, Jesus spoke out to
the entire crowd of people but He directed His words to those Jews Who had
believed Him - who became assured of not dying in their sins, but having
eternal life, (ref. Jn 8:24). Jesus said to them, "If you continue in
My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free." The Greek word "ean"
rendered "if" in the NASB is followed by the Greek verb "meinEte"
in the aorist tense rendered "you continue" in the NASB. The
verb is in the subjunctive mood, conveying the 3rd class condition "If"
signifying maybe you will and maybe you won't continue in Jesus' word, in
which the results of truly being disciples of Jesus and knowing the truth
and the truth then setting you free depend upon if it is true that one
continues in Jesus' word. Notice the phrase rendered "disciples of
Mine." The word rendered "disciples" is defined by the
context as those who believed what Jesus said relative to Who He was: they
believed in Him for forgiveness of sins unto eternal life, (ref. Jn 8:24;
cf. Jn 3:15-16; 5:24; 6:47), whereupon to be disciples they were
to continue to follow His teaching. This is not to say that one
must follow Jesus' teaching in order to be forgiven of ones sins unto
eternal life. For that is not what Jesus and the Scriptures constantly and
consistently preached such as in Jn 8:24, cf. Jn 5:24; Jn chapter 6
.
And when one who has believed in Jesus Christ and then becomes a disciple
by continuing in His word, Jesus stated, "You will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free" - knowing the truth in the sense of
endeavoring to learn and apply the teachings of Jesus Christ, i.e., God's
Word, especially knowing the truth about ones existence, ones purpose,
ones relationship with God with the result that as one continues one is
being freed from the effects of sin in ones temporal life during those
moments when they continued in His word, (Jn 8:31-32).
(Jn 8:33 NKJV)
'''They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never
been in bondage to anyone [lit., "Not to anyone have we been enslaved
- never]. How can You say, 'You will [become] free?" (Jn 8:34 NASB)
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone [doing]
sin is the slave of sin. (Jn 8:35 NASB) The slave does not remain in the
house forever; the Son does remain forever ["aiOna" = forever
.
(Jn 8:36 ASV) If therefore the Son shall [future: "will"] make
you free, [you] shall ["will"] be free indeed. (Jn 8:37 YLT) I
have known that [you] are [the] seed of Abraham, but [you] seek to kill
Me, because My word [has] no place in you; (Jn 8:38 YLT) I - that which I
have seen with My Father do speak, and [you], therefore, that which [you]
have seen with your father - [you] do." (Jn 8:39 NKJV) They answered
and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If
you were Abraham's children, you would [be doing] the works of Abraham;"
(Jn 8:40 YLT) and now, [you] seek to kill Me - a Man Who [has] spoken to
you the truth I heard from God; this Abraham did not [do]; (Jn 8:41a NKJV)
You do the deeds of your father." ''' =
Since Jesus was speaking to a large crowd made up primarily of Jews who heartily rejected Him and His message - even seeking to kill Him, (see John 8:3, 13, 21-22, 37, 40, 44-47, 48, 52, 59); verses 30-32 which speak of those in the crowd that believed in Jesus formed a digression. So when Jesus spoke out the following words to the people which were intended for those who believed Him, His words nevertheless were heard by all of those around Him - believers and enemies alike: "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free," (Jn 8:31b-32); whereupon Jesus received a response from the people who were His enemies - not from those that believed Him; nor was the response from those in the crowd who believed Him but lacked committment to follow His teachings and thereby never received eternal life. It was Jesus' enemies in the crowd who said to Him in Jn 8:33, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone [lit., "Not to anyone have we been enslaved - never]. How can You say, 'You will [become] free?" For the hostility toward Jesus in verse 33 was diametrically opposed to the mindset of one who has trusted in Jesus to set one free from sin unto eternal life.
There is no middle ground in Scripture where God's Word stipulates that one can believe Jesus yet because of a lack of committment to follow Him as a disciple, one is disqualified from receiving the free gift of eternal life. First of all, most of those who become believers do not immediately make and follow through on a committment to follow Jesus as a disciple; for this would demand a thorough understanding of His Word in order to remain in it and fulfill that committment from the beginning. Secondly, it would be a contradiction to offer eternal life as a free gift yet require a committment to remain in His Word as part of what it takes to have eternal life. But if this were the case - and it is not, there would have to be a 100% follow through on that committment - a life virtually free from sin from the beginning - in order to verify ones possession of eternal life, implying a thorough understanding of His Word at the point of conversion. Finally, belief in Jesus and making a committment to live for Him in the sense of continuing in His Word to be a disciple are two separate things of which being a disciple, i.e., continuing in His Word - is NEVER STIPULATED IN SCRIPTURE as a requirement in order to have the free gift of eternal life, (ref. Jn 1:12; 3:15-18; 4:39-42; 5:24; 6:29, 35, 40, 47; 7:38-39; 8:24, 30; etc., etc.).
The unbelieving Jews' response to Jesus of, "Not to anyone have we been enslaved - never]," was untrue to such a degree that it characterized those who did not believe in Jesus and sought His demise, which especially included the rulers, as willing to say anything if it would help to condemn Jesus. For when the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans ruled over Israel, each conqueror restricted the Jews' practice of their religion so that it did not conflict with their own rule, authority, approved religions and culture. They appointed civil and religious rulers over the Jews. For example, Herod and Pontius Pilate, and the chief priests of the Temple were appointed to rule over the Jews by the Romans. Herod sought to establish Hellenism over the Jewish people - a culture and religion completely contrary to Judaism. The Romans also took wealth from the Temple treasury to finance building, road and canal projects, which restricted the function of Judaism due to less capital. And in order to gain favor with their captors, the Jewish rulers modified their religion in order to accommodate the Romans to curry favor with them. The Greeks persecuted the Jews by forbidding sacrifice, circumcision, feasts, sabbaths, and the possession of Scripture - all capital offenses. Greek ruler of Palestine, Antiochus forced the Jews to adopt Hellenism or suffer death. He placed a statue of Zeus in the most sacred place in the Temple. The Assyrians and the Babylonians effectively limited the Jews' religious practices and self-rule, by scattering them and mixing them with other peoples, cultures and religions. The Babylonians destroyed the Temple, and misused the Temple utensils, (Jn 8:33).
Furthermore, Jesus was not speaking of religious freedom, but of freedom from enslavement to sin and its effects upon one: "Truly, truly I say to you everyone [doing] ["poiOn," nominative present participle] sin is the slave of sin," in the sense that any time an individual is doing sin - during that time he is a slave of sin and subject to its effects. Those Jews that did not believe in Jesus were by implication of Jn 8:24 not set free from sin and hence continued to be the slave to sin all the time in their temporal lives. Hence they were without God's temporal forgiveness and fellowship and the temporal blessings that accompanied that. Furthermore, they had not qualified themselves to become disciples of Jesus which requires (1) becoming a believer in Jesus - that He would make provision for their sins - in order to be able to (2) choose to continue in Jesus' word to be free from enslavement to sin in their temporal lives and receive God's temporal forgiveness and the blessings of His fellowship by being His disciple - which continues so long as one continues in His word, (Jn 8:34).
Jesus went on to say, "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, [you] shall be free indeed:"
(1) Everyone doing sin is a slave to sin, which is every mortal except Jesus Christ in His Humanity. Note that some contend that the present participle "Ho poiOn" rendered "everyone doing sin," in verse 34 must mean "everyone who practices sin," in order to disqualify some who sin more than others from receiving eternal life. They maintain their own peculiar definition of practicing sin so as to get around the fact that all mortals sin periodically, so no one in his mortal lifetime is without sin nor ever ceases to practice sin, except Jesus Christ in His Humanity Who was and is without sin, (Jn 8:34);
(2) The slave [to sin] does not remain in the house forever [i.e., the slave to sin does not have eternal life: Those who have not believed in Jesus Christ in their mortal lifetimes will die in their sins as slaves to sin and be forever separated from God - to never be freed from practicing and suffering the consequence of sin, (ref. Jn 8:24; cf. Jn 3:1-18)];
(3) The Son does remain forever, [i.e., the Son is Life - temporal and eternal: The words rendered "The Son," with the definite article in verse 8:35 is the specific Son referred to in verse 36, and not a son as some contend. And that Son is stipulated as only doing what the Father does, (Jn 8:28); i.e., only that which is Righteous. The phrase in verse 35 rendered "the Son does remain forever," signifies that the Son is Eternal, He is Life - temporal and eternal; (cf. Jn 1:1-4; 6:27-29)], and He is Jesus - according to His words in this passage, (cf. Jn 8:24), His miracles, His teaching as corroborated by the Father's testimony in Scripture.
(4) If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed in the sense of free from the punishment for sins unto eternal life by a moment of faith alone in Christ alone for this; and free from the enslavement of sin in the temporal life by believing in Him for eternal life and then as in the sense of being freed from the effects of temporal sin unto the temporal blessings of fellowship with God on a moment to moment basis as the believer continues in His word, (Jn 8:24, 31, 36), (Jn 8:35-36).
But then Jesus
said, "I have known that you are the seed of Abraham, but you seek to
kill Me, because My word has no place in you." Although the
unbelieving Jews were physical descendants of Abraham, their murderous
intent upon Jesus and their unbelief in Jesus' revelation from the Father
disqualified them from being a descendant of Abraham in the all important
spiritual sense. It was because of their lack of faith in Jesus, the
Promised Descendant of Abraham, that they were excluded from participating
in the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants not the least of
which included: eternal life in the Eternal Kingdom of God by believing in
God's provision of that life through Abraham's Descendant
.
So one is only freed from ones enslavement to sin unto eternal life and
hence will not die in ones sins by believing in Jesus Christ - the
Descendant that God spoke about to Abraham, Who would make provision for
the sins of the whole world. And as one continues in His Word, i.e., as
one enacts upon Jesus' words one is freed from sin in the temporal life,
(Jn 8:24, 30-31). Since the Jews in view in Jesus' time in this part of
the passage refused to acknowledge that the many miracles Jesus performed
and that His teachings were signs that He was the promised Descendant of
Abraham Who was sent from God; and since they were seeking to kill Jesus -
giving no indication that they believed in Him nor that they continued in
His word; then what Jesus said was true: that His word had no place in
them. They were neither acting like Abraham was their father, nor like God
was their Father. They did not believe that Jesus came from the Father,
nor that the words and works that Jesus did originated with God - despite
the corroboration from Jesus' miracles and from Scripture - God's Word. So
those that did not believe in Jesus were not free from enslavement to sin
for eternal life or in the temporal life. They were going to die in their
sins, (cf. Jn 8:24); (Jn 8:37).
Jesus further testified to the rulers, "I - that which I have seen My Father do speak," implying that He speaks (and acts) exclusively out of what He sees His Father do. Since Jesus' Father, being God, always does that which is Righteous; then in stark contrast to the Jewish rulers, Jesus was declaring that He does only that which is Righteous. Whereupon Jesus said, "Therefore, that which you [referring to the unbelieving Jews in the crowd] have seen with your father, you do," implying that their father was neither Abraham nor God, but one who continually does evil, because the unbelieving Jews were all about doing evil themselves, such as scheming to kill Jesus, (Jn 8:38).
And when the
Jewish rulers answered Jesus and said to Him, "Abraham is our father;"
Jesus responded that if they were Abraham's children they would be doing
the works of Abraham, implying that their works were not good but evil:
For Jesus said, "And now, [you] seek to kill Me - a Man Who [has]
spoken to you the truth I heard from God; this Abraham did not [do]; you
do the deeds of your father." Notice that Jesus used the word God in
the same sense as He spoke the word rendered Father; hence they are One
and the Same. Furthermore, Jesus repeatedly claimed to see and hear what
His Father, meaning God, does and says respectively, implying an intimate,
ongoing communication with God, making Himself equal with God, (Jn
5:17-47; 7:16-24, 28-29; 8:14-19, 28-32, 42). The Greek verb "epoieoite"
in verse 41a rendered "you do," in the phrase "you do the
deeds," is in the imperfect tense of indefinite action conveying a
pattern of behavior. Whereupon Jesus again told the Jews that they sought
to kill Him - a Man Who spoke to them the truth that He heard from God. He
said, "This Abraham did not do. You do the deeds of your father."
Jesus was implying that because the pattern of their deeds was evil, then
their true father in a spiritual sense was not Abraham, but another whose
pattern of life was evil. Although the Jewish rulers were physical
descendants of Abraham, their true father was one whose life they emulated
which was characterized as evil. The Jewish rulers mistakenly thought that
their entrance into the Eternal Kingdom of God depended upon their
physical descendancy from Abraham. On the other hand, Scripture indicates
that it is a spiritual relationship with God brought about - as Abraham
had set the example - via a moment of faith alone in the Promised
Descendant alone unto eternal life - Jesus Christ, (ref Gen 15:1-6...),
(Jn 8:39-41a).
(Jn 8:41b YLT) '''Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father - God." (Jn 8:42 YLT) Jesus then said to them, "If God were your Father, [you would be] loving Me, for I came forth from God, and am come; for neither have I come of Myself, but He [Who] sent Me; (Jn 8:43 NASB) Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. (Jn 8:44 HOLMAN) You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires [lusts]. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars. (Jn 8:45 NKJV) But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. (Jn 8:46 NKJV) Which of you convicts Me of sin? And If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? (Jn 8:47 NASB) He Who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." ''' =
When Jesus said to the rulers in verses 39b-41a, "If you were Abraham's children, you would [be doing] the works of Abraham; and now, [you] seek to kill Me - a Man Who [has] spoken to you the truth I heard from God; this Abraham did not [do]; You do the deeds of your father," the rulers remained obstinate in their response: "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father - God." They were denying that they had entered into a relationship with someone else besides God. But they had entered into a pattern of behavior which violated their relationship with God as their Father, as well as the example of Abraham.
Despite Jesus' frequent references to the unbelieving Jews' efforts to seek to kill Him, they did not admit it to Him, (ref. 5:16-18; 7:19; 8:37, 40).
The word rendered "fornication" was not a reference to the false rumor that Jesus was born of fornication by a Roman soldier, as some contend that the rulers were making a personal attack upon the LORD. This understanding of the word does not fit into the context in any manner, (Jn 8:41b).
Whereupon Jesus responded to the Jewish rulers, "If God were your Father... [in the sense of honoring His word]
... "you would be loving Me, for I came forth from God, and am come; for neither have I come of Myself, but He Who sent Me."
So the Jews' hateful treatment of Jesus with murderous intent demonstrated their alienation from God.
Jesus emphatically declared that He came forth from God. This was Jesus' constant declaration as the reason why one should accept Him. He declared that He has come, not of His own will, but from God Who sent Him. So if God were truly the Father of the Jewish rulers in the sense that they remained in His Word, they would be loving Jesus; not trying to kill Him. Jesus was implying that the Jewish rulers had broken their relationship with God so that He was no longer their Father - their God.
Notice that the scribes and Pharisees used the word rendered, "Father" to mean "God" in verse 41b; then Jesus continued to use this same word rendered "God," and "Father," in verses 42-43 to continue the meaning of God being His Father in His repeated declaration to the rulers that He came forth from God His Father. This He had clearly been saying all along, yet the rulers, in an attempt to discredit Jesus' testimony, refused to accept that that was what He was saying whenever He spoke of His Father, (Jn 8:16-18, 26-29, 38).
Furthermore, Jesus answered, "For I came forth from God, and am come; for neither have I come of Myself, but He Who sent Me." In His answer, Jesus emphasized that He [in His Humanity] originated from God - (from above via the work of the Holy Spirit, (cf. Mt 1:20). He indicated that He had come into the world in His Humanity not by His own decision, but He was sent by God His Father, (cf. Jn 1:1-15). Then Jesus said, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word." He answered His own question: The rulers were unable to hear and understand His words because they were motivated to protect their positions of power and wealth even to the extent of doing great evils, disregarding the truth, the cost to others and the sins they committed. They were deeply prejudiced against Jesus Who was a threat to them. Their entire line of reasoning was to find cause to kill Him - a cause that could be successfully proved to be a capital offense under the Mosaic Law; but they had found nothing against Him so far, (Jn 8:42-43).
Jesus concluded His judgment of them: "You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires [lusts]."
Despite the fact that the rulers were descendants of Abraham - to which Jesus testified, (ref. Jn 8:37); and in spite of the fact that God was their Father in the sense of being in a covenant relationship with His chosen people, Israel; the rulers had violated the example of Abraham and their covenant relationship with God and aligned themselves in their conduct with the one who was the epitome of evil - the Devil, (ref. Jn 8:44). Jesus stipulated that they desired to follow their father the Devil's desires - his lusts. Jesus characterized the Devil as a murderer from the beginning, (Gen 4:1-15); who had not stood in the truth, because there was no truth in him. And when he told a lie, he spoke from his own nature - being innately a liar and the father of liars, (Jn 8:44).
Jesus declared that because He told the truth, the rulers did not believe in Him - implying that their mindset, hence their nature, was so characterized by lies by emulating their father the Devil, that they would not believe the truth when they heard it from Jesus, Whose nature was always truthful - despite how well what Jesus said lined up with Scripture.
Then Jesus demanded to know which of the rulers convicted Him of sin? He implied that the Jews could find no offense in Him at all. He was without sin. This corroborated that His testimony was truthful. Jesus declared that He only spoke and did what He had seen the Father speak and do. The very fact that Jesus asked them, ""Which of you convicts Me of sin?" testifies to His confidence that He is Who He says He is. Furthermore, the lack of response, corroborated His sinless perfection, the truth of His testimony, and His intimate eternal relationship with God His Father. Hence He asked, "If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?" And He again answered His own question: "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." The Jewish rulers' incapacity to acknowledge and believe in Scripture and the words of God as spoken by Jesus to them was because they were not of God - in the sense that they had neither trusted in God's provision for their atonement of sins through Abraham's Descendant, nor did they honestly and correctly abide in God's Word - especially those words spoken by Jesus, the Voice of God. Scripture repeatedly made it clear that a man's life must be dependent upon the Word of God:
(Dt 8:3 NKJV) "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that Me might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD."
(Jn 5:37 NAS ) And the Father Who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
(Jn 5:38 NAS) You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him Whom He sent.
(Jn 5:39 NAS) You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
(Jn 5:40 NAS) and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
(Jn 5:41 YLT) Glory from man I do not receive,
(Jn 5:42 YLT) but I have known you, that the love of God ye have not in yourselves.
(Jn 5:43 YLT) I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive Me; if another may come in his own name, him you will receive;
(Jn 5:44 NAS) How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the One and only God?
(Jn 5:45 NAS) Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope;
(Jn 5:46 YLT) for if [you] were believing Moses, [you] would have been believing Me, for he wrote concerning Me."
The scribes and Pharisees had willfully set their minds toward the ungodly reasoning of their father the Devil which ruled out anything they heard that was of God - especially that which challenged their position and wealth, and refuted their reasons for trying to murder Jesus, (Jn 8:45-47).
(Jn 8:48 NKJV) '''Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" (Jn 8:49 NKJV) Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. (Jn 8:50 YLT) and I do not seek My own glory; there is [One] Who is seeking and is judging; (Jn 8:51 HOLMAN) I assure you: If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death - ever!" ''' =
The Pharisees
concluded that since they viewed themselves as children of Abraham, (ref.
Jn 8:39) - and they actually were his physical descendants but not his
spiritual ones; and since they were highly educated members of the
Sanhedrin - the governing body over Israel - considered in Israel to be
authoritative in matters concerning God; then Jesus' statements that they
were of the Devil, (ref. Jn 8:44), and not of God, (ref. Jn 8:47), were
highly offensive to them - even demonically inspired. The Pharisees
responded to Jesus with a verbal attack not based upon truth, but intended
to personally degrade and discredit Him especially before the crowd in an
attempt to diminsh His following amongst the people: "Do we not say
rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" These were two of
the worst insults that a Jew could use against another Jew; but they were
without foundation. The Samaritans, albeit part Jew and part Gentile,
hence falsely considered illegitimate, nevertheless, held many beliefs in
common with the Jews, such as holding to the validity of the Pentateuch.
On the other hand, they did not hold to the rest of Scripture; and often
differed when it came to the non-biblical traditions which the Jews held
sacred. Their differences - whether significant, biblical or unbiblical,
caused the Jews to view and treat them falsely as traitorous heretics.
Note that many Samaritans believed in Jesus, (ref. Jn 4:1-42
)
For the Jewish rulers it became an arrogant game of name calling and false accustations without having to provide any logical proof of their claims against Jesus because of their position and power. And He had been accused of being possessed by a demon before, (Jn 7:20; and would be again: 8:52; 10:20). Had Jesus been anyone besides the Son of God, with no evidence of His life being consistent with being the Son of God, no miracles, and the Scriptures not supportive of His being the Son of God, perhaps what He was saying could be attributed to Demonic possession; but such was not the case, (Jn 8:48).
Despite the Jews' attack upon His Person, Jesus kept His focus upon His Father and patiently answered their attacking insults beginning in verse 49. His response to their insults reaffirmed His objectivity. His focus was continually upon what His Father would have Him say - what He had been saying from the beginning - all of which was fully corroborated in Scripture for everyone to understand and believe in. So Jesus declared to the rulers,
(1) that He does not have a demon. He ignored the accusation of being a Samaritan.
(2) that He honors His Father and the Jews dishonor Him, implying that to dishonor Him was to dishonor God.
(3) that He does not seek His own glory. He came to glorify the Father. Jesus was willing to suffer reproach and death that He might honor His Father by carrying out His mission to die for the sins of the world.
(4) that it is God Who seeks glory and is the Judge of men.
(5) that "If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death - ever! [referring to spiritual death]"
Despite their intent to discredit and condemn Him to death, Jesus remained objective and testified to the truth that His Father would have Him reveal to the Jewish rulers. And by the grace of God, Jesus gave them one more opportunity to hear how one may have eternal life: by keeping His word, i.e., by believing in Him for forgiveness of sins so they would not die in their sins, (cf. Jn 8:24). Jesus' miraculous deeds, His testimony and teaching, and God's testimony in the Scriptures about Him worked precisely together to authenticate Who He was to the scribes and the Pharisees, but they refused to be objective.
Note that the phrase rendered, "he will never see death - ever!" emphatically refers to never experiencing spiritual death, not physical / temporal death, (ref Jn 3:1-18); (Jn 8:48-51).
(Jn 8:52 YLT) '''The Jews, therefore, said to him, "Now we have known that [You have] a demon; Abraham did die and the prophets, and [You]... say, 'If any one [keeps] My word, he shall not taste of death - forever! (Jn 8:53 HOLMAN) Are You greater than our father Abraham who died? Even the prophets died. Who do You pretend to be?" (Jn 8:53 CBL Interlinear) Not are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? [Are you?] And the prophets died! Whom do yourself you make [to be]?" (Jn 8:54 YLT) Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father Who is glorifying Me, of Whom you say that He is our God; (Jn 8:55 NKJV) Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. (Jn 8:56 NKJV) Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." (Jn 8:57 NKJV) Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" (Jn 8:58 NKJV) Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." (Jn 8:59 YLT) They took up; therefore, stones that they [might] cast [aorist tense] at Him, but Jesus [was hidden] [passive voice], and went forth out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so [passing] by." ''' =
The Jews were intransigent: "Now we have known that [You have] a demon; Abraham did die and the prophets, and [You]... say, 'If any one [keeps] My word, he shall not taste of death - forever!' Not are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? [Are you?] And the prophets died! Whom do yourself you make [to be]?"
The Jewish rulers listened to every word that Jesus was saying but only to find a means to destroy Him. Not once did they examine His statements objectively to determine whether or not what He said had validity. Not once did they go back to Scripture to objectively compare Jesus' statements and the miracles He performed with the prophetic passages - which when examined carefully corroborated what He said and did. They ignored the myriad of evidence provided by Jesus of His being the Son of God - His Deity, hence His Eternality and the Provider of eternal life. By filtering out the truths about Jesus Christ, and by not comparing Jesus' life to Scripture - the Testimony and the Word of God - about Him; and by forcing the conclusion in their own minds that He was limited to His Humanity - an obscure man from Galilee Who was born long after Abraham and the prophets had died, they concluded that Jesus could not be telling the truth about Himself when He said 'If any one [keeps] My word, he shall not taste of death - forever!,' and consequently He must be demonically possessed. They demanded an answer from Jesus when they repeatedly asked, "Are You greater than our father Abraham who died? Even the prophets died. Who do You pretend to be?" The rulers misinterpreted the phrase rendered, "If any one [keeps] My word, he shall not taste of death - forever!" to refer to physical death, not spiritual death. Earlier Jesus had said in Jn 8:24: "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that [I am], you will die in your sins," which implies dying spiritually. If the rulers had been seeking the truth, instead of listening to Jesus for a means to kill Him, they would not have misinterpreted Him in verse 8:52.
On the basis of this misinterpretation, an examination of the Greek text reveals that the rulers had emphatically concluded that Jesus was not greater than Abraham and the prophets by using the negative "mE" rendered "Not" at the beginning of the verse:
mE..su ..meizOn .ei ...tou patros hemOn Abraam ...hostis ..apethanen
Not you greater ..are .the father our .......Abraham .who ....died?
kai ..ohi prophEtai .apethanon tina .....seauton .su ..poieis?
and .the prophets ...died! .........Whom .yourself you make?
(Jn 8:53 CBL Interlinear) Not are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? [Are you?] And the prophets died! Whom do yourself you make [to be]?" (Jn 8:51-53).
Since Abraham was the Father of the Jewish people - the nation Israel; and according to Scripture he was the friend of God, (Genesis chapters 12-25); and since the prophets received revelation directly from God to provide Israelites guidance and inspire their faith in the LORD; and since they had completely discounted everything substantive and biblical that Jesus said and did - reducing Him to an obscure, simple man from Nazareth in Galilee; then in the mind of the scribes and Pharisees they asked, "How could Jesus be greater than Abraham and the prophets." They indicated that Abraham and the prophets had all died, but this obscure Man from Galilee purported to have the power of life and death. The scribes and Pharisees were unwilling to before them stood their Creator and Sustainer of life, (Jn 8:52-53).
But Jesus repeated what He had been saying all along: "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father Who is glorifying Me, of Whom you say that He is our God; Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
The Pharisees and scribes were on one track and Jesus was on another: As Jesus continued to present evidence of Who He was to the Pharisees, the Jewish rulers were simply not interested in considering whether or not what He was saying was true. Jesus declared that if He was endeavoring to glorify Himself, that His glory would be nothing. But it was His Father Who was glorifying Him - God's power enabling His Son in His Humanity - throughout all that the Son had done and said - the miracles, the teachings - with precise and perfect corroboration with Scripture - the Testimony of God, the God Whom the scribes and Pharisees had said was their God. Never once did they honor His Son, nor compare Jesus' words or actions with what Scripture says; nor recognize that they were acting in an estranged manner toward God and His Son. Jesus indicated that they had not truly known God in the sense of never having trusted in God's Word, nor having believed in His provision of eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ as Abraham had done, (Gen 15:6).
(Jn 5:39 NAS) "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
(Jn 5:40 NAS) and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
(Jn 5:41 YLT) Glory from man I do not receive,
(Jn 5:42 YLT) but I have known you, that the love of God ye have not in yourselves.
(Jn 5:43 YLT) I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive Me; if another may come in his own name, him you will receive;
(Jn 5:44 NAS) How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the One and only God?"
(Jn 8:24 NKJV) "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that [I am], you will die in your sins."
On the other hand, Jesus declared to them that He knew God in the sense of having a full knowledge of God, (Greek verb: "oida"). He had earlier stipulated that He came forth from God His Father, and it was God Who sent Him, (ref. Jn 8:43, 49). Whereupon, Jesus testified to them, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad," (Jn 8:54-55).
Jesus referred to Abraham as the father of the scribes and Pharisees in verse 56 but in the sense of their being his physical descendants; not in the sense of how they were conducting themselves. For their works were not representative of what Abraham would do, they were evil.
(Jn 8:39 NKJV) '''They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would [be doing] the works of Abraham;"
(Jn 8:40 YLT) and now, [you] seek to kill Me - a Man Who [has] spoken to you the truth I heard from God; this Abraham did not [do];
(Jn 8:41a NKJV) You do the deeds of your father." '''
The phrase
rendered "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it
and was glad," in Jn 8:56 has in view the time millennia ago when
Abraham believed God and it was accounted to Him as righteousness unto
eternal life, (Gen 15:6 ).
Abraham's faith included his trusting in a Descendant of his Who would
make an atoning sacrifice for his sins and those of all mankind. Since
that Descendant was to be the Son of God, Jesus Christ in His Humanity, it
was Jesus' day of atonement which Abraham looked forward to - into the
future time of Jesus' Humanity. And he rejoiced to "see" that
day in the future, for it represented his own salvation that God had
provided for him through a moment of faith in Him - that day being when
Jesus Christ would die on the cross for the sins of all mankind fulfilling
God's promise of providing eternal life to Abraham and to all those
throughout history who trusted in God's Son for that. Furthermore, Jesus
testified as an eye witness that Abraham saw His day and was glad. Jesus'
referring to Abraham's rejoicing at seeing His Day of Atonement implies
that Jesus Himself was there, (in His Diety), to know of and see Abraham
rejoicing in order to report Abraham's rejoicing thousands of years later
to the scribes and Pharisees, implying Jesus' eternal existence as the Son
of God - His Diety, (Jn 8:56).
Since the Jewish rulers did not believe in Who Jesus was; they found Jesus' statement in verse 56 incredible. Hence they responded in the next verse with: "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" They were very perceptive in concluding that Jesus claimed to have a personal experience in observing Abraham's rejoicing in seeing Jesus' day, demonstrating their capacity to understand what Jesus was saying, yet exemplifying their unwillingness to accept the truth about Him no matter how great the evidence, (Jn 8:57).
Jesus' statement in Jn 8:58 was a declaration of His Diety - His Eternality: "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." The Greek phrase in Jn 8:58 "egO eimi," rendered "I am," in the NKJV is the title for the Messiah and a strong affirmation of Diety.
For "egO eimi" are the words of God's self-disclosure to Moses in Ex 3:14 Septuagint translation:
(Ex 3:14 NKJV) '''And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," [Greek Septuagint: "egO eimi"] And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you," ''' (cf. Is 41:4; 43:11-13; 44:6; 45:6, 18, 21; 48:17).
(Isa 43:10 Septuagint) "Be ye my witnesses, and I too am a witness, saith the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know, and believe, and understand that [I am]: [Greek: "egO eimi,"] before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none.
(Isa 43:11 Septuagint) I am God; and beside me there is no Saviour."
Jesus declared His superiority to Abraham and the prophets in His answer to their points in verses 53 and 57: (Jn 8:53 CBL Interlinear) "Not are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? [Are you?] And the prophets died! Whom do yourself you make [to be]?" (Jn 8:57 NKJV) Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
Jesus' answer, "Jesus
said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I
AM," implied that He was God in the sense of the Son of God, the
Christ, the Messiah Who was to come from God Who would make provision for
ones sins - being both God and Man, (Isa 9:6-7; 53:1-12; Jn 1:29;
3:15-18). By this Jesus was implying His Eternality as the Son of God, Who
existed before Abraham and would become existant in His Humanity long
after Abraham died, in order to have His day of atonement for the sins of
the whole world as provision for eternal life for Abraham and all mankind
who trust in Him for forgiveness of sins, (Jn 1:1-18
),
(Jn 8:57-58).
Jesus' answer prompted the rulers to violence: "They took up; therefore, stones that they [might] cast [aorist tense] at Him." But it was not yet His time. The passive mood of the verb "was hidden," implies a supernatural hiding of Jesus. This was an affirmation that the destiny of Jesus Christ was firmly in the hands of the Father:
"But Jesus [was hidden] [passive voice indicating a supernatural intervention], and went forth out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so [passing] by."
Such a supernatural intervention by God affirms God's Absolute Sovereignty over His preordained plan to make provision for the sins of the whole world through His Son in His time, (Jn 8:59).